the adventures of ARCN
by scyrus42
Summary: a few years after the events of RWBY (at present), and there is a new group of freshmen at beacon. expect hilarity, badassery, and shoehorned references courtesy of yours truly
1. Ageis Pyro

**This is an idea I have had for a while, getting a chapter out might bring more people to it. This is just a 'pilot' if you will, the first chapter in a story I intend to write with other people. I will need three OCs as well as their creators to join me in writing this story. The first few chapters will introduce each of the characters, starting with mine.**

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

"wake up!"

I shuffled in my seat, cracking a single eye open to see the inside of the airship. I sat up, cracking my back to recover from my poor sleeping posture. Fully awake, I turned to the source of the voice, my father.

"what time is it?" I exhaled, sleeping in a leather seat for four hours is not exactly restful. "time for you to get a watch." He adjusted his sunglasses and let out a chuckle, "we really should get going soon, your orientation starts in half an hour and I need to speak with ol' Ozzy about something."

For a bit of background, we had just landed at Beacon, one of the most esteemed fighting schools in Remnant, rather than going to Atlas' fighting school. This decision resulted in packing my clothes into a one-size-too-small duffle bag, grabbing my unfinished 'project', and hopping into a prototype airship for six hours.

The alternative was a ten minute walk from my house. If you couldn't tell, my dad is a bit eccentric. Anyway, I grabbed my belongings and stepped into the sun. my Scroll told me that Vale was nice for most of the year, but could suddenly break into frigid winters or burning summers.

I took a glance around the campus and then tilted my head upwards until I could see the greenish glow of the headmaster's room. I looked back to the path in front of me and began walking towards the main building.

Perspective be damned, this place was HUGE. What I expected to be a five minute stroll turned into a sprint as I realized I had no clue where to meet the other students. Twenty minutes of searching the eerily empty campus led me to an assembly hall where I could see a large gathering of people.

I opened the grand pair of doors to see every pair of eyes in the building glare at me. Past the stink eyes, I saw a man at a microphone, he was dressed in a black suit with a green scarf. He had a pair of spectacles perched on his nose and a head of white hair.

This was Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon, and I had just interrupted his opening speech. I quickly closed the doors and pretended like I didn't exist. After the doors shut, Ozpin continued "as I was saying, each and every one of you has come with a goal, the reasons might be different, but the end pint remains the same. You all wish to become hunters and huntresses."

His voice was calm, but firm, it had enough power to reach the entire room and the right tone to keep you enthralled. "but, all I see is a waste of perfectly good airship fuel. You come with the idea that knowledge is the skeleton key to becoming a slayer of Grimm, that is nowhere close to the truth. You can know every tactic in the book, you can recite every speech by every general since the war"

"these are all useful traits in hunters, but are relatively useless on their own. Conviction is the only trait, the only temperament, that you cannot learn while here. If you came with the hope that you could just 'learn' it, this is the fault of none but your own."

Ozpin stepped away from the mic and a female teacher took his place. "all new arrivals will stay the night in the ballroom, tomorrow, initiation begins. Be prepared."

The female teacher stepped away and the hall became filled with chatter. I found myself leaning against the wall with my vision unfocused, listening intently to the speech that had since ended. I snapped myself out of it and glanced around the auditorium.

All the students were filing out of the doors I had entered through and were making their way to the ballroom. I took out my scroll and marked its destination on my map. I detoured to a map and ran my finger over the digital landmarks until I found the Forge.

The building was average size, with two stories and a anvil sign hovering next to the door. I hefted my bags and stepped inside. The building was alive with the sound of lathes, saws, and a cacophony of other industrial noises.

I found an office in a corner of the building and approached it. Inside was a man with a pair of goggles over his nose and a leather apron. "um, excuse me?" he looked up from the array of bits and pieces that coated his desk.

"can I help you?" I nodded, placing the black case containing my weapon on the surface. "I need some work done on this" he slid the goggles to his forhead and his eyes inflated with glee. "my pleasure"

 **Three hours later**

After managing to pry the weapon away from the overzealous professor, I made my way to the ballroom. The building was of a similar size to the auditorium, but without a stage. Everyone was sat on the floor on sleeping bags in any sort of pajama I could imagine.

I grabbed a sleeping bag from a table near the door and spread it on the floor. I put my bags down and dug a t-shirt and boxers out. I headed to the bathroom to change out of my suit (yes, I came to a new school in a three piece, fight me).

Upon exiting the bathroom, the eyes of a number of girls turned to me. I glanced down at my form, I guess I was lean, being homeschooled by a pair of hunters will do that to you. I just focused on my sleeping area and lay on the surprisingly comfy bag, the stress of the day got to me and I dropped like a stone.

 **The next day**

I followed the group of students to a cliff. with or without context, that is not a very common sentence. We lined up on a row of square platforms. I had donned a new suit and my weapon was in a sheath across my back. I reached up and fingered the grip, becoming used to the feeling.

I heard a ticking noise come from my left and saw a student hurtling off the cliff. Prior to coming here, I believed that the rumors about beacon's initiation were just stories. As you can tell, I was wrong. I came to this realization while flying above a lush green forest at terminal velocity.

 **There is chapter one, my chapters will not be as long as this usually, again, I need ocs and their creators to be involved in this story. I look forward to working with anyone to will work with me.**

 **Details on my character will be distributed to anyone who asks, submissions can be accepted via pm or review, though I prefer pms.**


	2. Rex Azraq

Today I'm going to Beacon. I say this in my mind over and over as I get off the huge airship. I've always wanted to go to the academy of warriors, but I didn't think it would come so soon.

"Nice view," the kid next to me says.

"Yeah," I respond as the ship starts to lands.

Most of the students started filing off the ship. I followed a group of kids to an empty auditorium where Professor Ozpin was giving an opening speech.

He went on and one about how we have to work and stuff. I'm a hard worker, but I'm just here to become a huntsman, to protect people.

My clothes were starting to bother me, so I took off my jacket. That's better. I'm wearing a sleeveless shirt with a bulletproof vest underneath. I'm wearing combat boots and long pants. The shirt is a rufous colour with a no particular pattern.

Once the professor finishes giving us the speech, he tells us to go to the sleeping hall to go to bed.

Once I get there, I unravel my sleeping bag. The only other kid that was near me is a muscular kid who stood next to me in the auditorium, I think his name was Ageis or something. Whatever.

The next day

I get up and Ozpin and his assistant (I think her name was Gilda or something) take us to a hill.

"The sights really are beautiful aren't they," I hear Gilda say to Ozpin.

We are all instructed to stand on there weird gray square things. I do as I'm asked.

"Today you are to take on the emerald forest. This trial will determine your team of four. The first person you make eye-contact with will be your partner for the next 4 years. Your mission is to locate the ruins in the center. Once there, you and your partner pick one of the relics. There will be Grimm. If necessary, kill them. I hope you have a landing strategy", Ozpin tells us.

"Landing for what," I hear someone say before getting launched. I whip my blade out of my gauntlets and get ready to go.


	3. Nathan Minos

Bullheads. Always the worst inventions created, no matter the circumstance. And in my location, it was even less enjoyable. Trying to sleep in an aircraft is on of the worst things imaginable: the turbulence refuses to settle for more than five minutes, the glaring light that no matter what you do is alway too bright, the sounds and vibrations made from the engines, and all the people on board with their own conversations. In short, I was not in a good mood.

"Can they make these things even worse?" I ask myself as I look around the cabin. I see what looks to be my future classmates, if their strange fashion sense is anything to go off of. The people I notice don't exactly make me feel the most comfortable. A few of the passengers were looking at me, horns aren't very inconspicuous after all.

Staring, humans are always staring at me like I'm some kind of freak. As long as they don't bother me, I won't bother them. I don't need their assumptions. I don't need their opinions. The only thing I need from them is to give us equality.

Suddenly the PA system came to life. "Attention, we will be arriving at Beacon Academy in fifteen minutes. I repeat, We will be arriving in Beacon Academy in fifteen minutes _._ " Then the automated voice shut off, leaving me a bit of time to gather my things before we land.

We landed shortly, thankfully without any inconvenience. After I had gotten my luggage had I decided to look at Beacon. It is quite a sight to behold, it was like nothing I had ever seen. The pillars reach further up into the sky than I thought possible. Though its color scheme is far too bland; Grey and green? I hope they don't have uniforms, because if the buildings scheme is anything to go by, then they will be awful.

I make my way, lost in thought about what is in store for me. _If only something would happen to make this at least a tad bit more interesting_. As if my prayers had been answered, a large boom echoed from somewhere up the walk. I make my way to see if anyone was injured or if it's a Grim attack. As I get closer I see two people arguing, well, one of them was anyway.

"Well if nobody is hurt then I should just move on." I say as I start to walk towards the main building. It's a rather uneventful walk to the auditorium. I can see that I'm in the right place due to all the initiates being here.

Eventually a blonde woman and a grey haired man, who I assume must be Goodwitch and Ozpin, walk one stage. I hope he doesn't go one a long winded speech. Unfortunately, this wish was not granted. The grey haired man began his speech while I tuned him out. _Who cares, it's just some old dude talking about his own philosophies_. Gods I wish this would end.

Suddenly the door in the back creaked open in what must have been an attempt at sneaking. The room went silent as the room and Ozpin turned to look at who was so late. I look back and see who made such a 'dramatic' entrance. What I saw was slightly surprising, a pinstripe suit, I'll give him a day. Unless he's dressing up for the first day, then he will be Grim bait tomorrow.

 _I swear if he has to start over, I will strangle that tardy initiate with his own tie._ Thankfully Ozpin started where he left off before the interruption. He starts talking about how we're all worthless, in need of temperament and conviction, what a blowhard. _Eat your cane old man._

His speech came to an end shorter than I expected. As Ozpin stepped away from the microphone, Professor Goodwitch. "All new arrivals will stay in the ballroom, tomorrow, Initiation begins. Be prepared."

As soon as she left I followed the crowd to where we will stay tonight. I don't like the thought of having to spend the night in the same room with everyone. I decide to find a place with the least humans as possible. I manage to find an area where a few other Faunus have set up and joined them. I set down my bag and go locate a restroom to get changed in.

In the bathroom I notice the guy who was in the suit earlier. Why anyone needs to wear something like that, I'll never know. I get changed into a pair of long cotton pants and a cotton button up shirt. The one downside to having horns is that I am unable to wear closed neck shirts. I make my way back to my Bag to get some rest, after all, tomorrow is initiation.

 **Authors note: OC submissions are no longer being taken. While they are all good, we only need the four for the team. Thank you.**


	4. Cedar Boom

"Yeah I'm sure I have everything don't worry so much Will!" An annoyed voice says loudly while the source of the voice is getting ready to enter an airship. "Are you sure Ceder? not even forgetting to hug your big brother?"

The girl now known as Ceder freezes while she tried to walk away, only to then turn around and run to her brother. "You know I'm going to miss you right gecko?" Will asks a little bit sad "Of course I know… I'm going to miss you too.. and don't call me gecko" Ceder answers while wiping away a tear.

After hugging it out Ceder finally picks up her bags and goes to enter the airship to Beacon "Make sure uncle doesn't forget to get out of bed Will!" Ceder yells at Will while walking away.

'Wow' is all Ceder can think after she finally stepped foot on beacon looking around to only see more and more huge buildings. When she's finally calmed down a bit she decides to just follow the big crowd of people who also left the airship with her. 'Huh there sure are a lot of people around here… no need to be nervous everyone is new here' Ceder thinks to herself while arriving at the hall.

A lot of people are talking with each other but Ceder being not used to be around a lot of people doesn't talk to anyone. 'Typical me.. never knowing what to say.'

After a while everybody goes silent and a man and woman enter the stage and the longest speech ever recorded in remnant history started and only interrupted once because some kid decided it was smart to come late luckily for everyone professor ozpin just continued where he left off and then sent everybody off to get some well needed sleep

The next morning started out pretty intense, I ended up waking up a lot earlier than I wanted to due to a nightmare and as a result thereof was awake for 2 hours before anyone else woke up.

Even now a few hours later I'm still tired luckily for me ozpin finally started the initiation.. is what I thought before I noticed the first person getting shot into the air. It's true what people say about seeing your entire life flash before your eyes when facing a life or death situation. 'Wow my life was pretty boring now that I think about it'

End of introduction chapter

Good night I'm off to bed


	5. The Pinstipe and The Bull

**This is the collab chapter between me and my compadre Jarret. Needless to say, this will be an interesting ride.**

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

I was hurtling over the lush green forest, debating life choices, as you do. The ground was coming closer and closer. I snapped out of my stupor from the launch and reached for my weapon, pulling the wide blade from its sheath.

I held it in front of me and reached into my jacket with my free hand. I rummaged for a second before pulling out a grey capsule. I broke the barrels and slipped a pair of the capsules inside. snapped the barrels shut and fired towards my estimated landing spot.

The capsules collided with the ground and expanded. Before long, a large pile of grey foam was sitting on the ground. I braced myself and collided with the soapy-smelling impact foam. I rolled off of the pile and lay on the ground, groaning.

 **Nathan's P.O.V**

Green. Such a grand expanse of lush forest steaming past me put me in awe. Seeing all this life around really puts everything into perspective. However, the green of the grass also quickly approaching brought me back to reality.

I looked forward to see what lay ahead of me and what I could use. I see a group of trees ahead that I can use to slow my descent. I pull out my shield to both protect me as well as to slow myself down. I try and aim for the ones with the thickest foliage to maximize deceleration. After about the third tree my velocity has lessened to the point where I can grab a branch to stop fully.

I look around my surroundings to try and get my bearings. I decide the best coarse of action was to get to the forest floor quickly and find the relic. It took a couple of minutes to get to the ground, but once I landed I saw the worst sight imaginable.

It's him, the tardy initiate in the suit. And he's just laying on the ground, on the grass, probably getting grass stains. _Although if he can wear something like that to a combat school, then he must have the money to not care about it,_ I think to myself.

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

I cracked my eyes open after recovering from my collision with the foam that saved my life. I looked up and saw a behemoth in leather armor walking past me. I pushed myself up from my back and placed my weapon in its sheath. I remembered what the headmaster had said about partners and called after the giant.

"Hey, friend! Back here."

"I'd rather continue on my way." he said, not slowing down. I narrowed my eyes at the individual, "like it or not, we are partners."

"I have no wish to be partnered with some fancily dressed human."

I glanced down at my suit and brushed the dirt and grass off "thanks for the compliment, but I don't take kindly to the word 'human' used derogatorily"

"Then even better a reason for us to go our own paths, find people we can get along with."

I was disliking the tone of this person, but I submitted to the fact that we were stuck like this. "Right now, I like you about as much as you like me, probably more by your reactions. But we are stuck together for the next four years, like it or not."

"Your outfit only says that you will not last, a suit, really? At least try to be prepared for this school." He says now stopping.

I unbuttoned my jacket and opened it, revealing the firepower stowed within. I show him my crossing bandoliers over my shoulders, shells wrapped around my abdomen, a menagerie of sniper slugs and grenades adorned the inside of the suit jacket, and clips of miscellaneous ammunition were tucked in various other places.

After all this I just raised an eyebrow and said "you were saying? This 'suit' is fashioned out of combat grade material, straight from Atlas."

"Ah, Atlesian tech, Forgive me and my _transgressions_ oh brave warrior." He says. "I care not for the amounts of bullets you carry, it is that you know how to use them to their fullest effects that I care about."

I was done with this guy, I decided to put a stop to the argument. I grabbed a fistful of the stacked leather armor and pulled his face to eye-level with mine. "Listen here _Bullshit_ , I am a very difficult person to irritate, but you have succeeded. Now, I am not in fact 100% human if that was the cause of these _transgressions,_ as you put it. But if not, we need to fix whatever was wrong right now buddy, I would much prefer not being at odds with a team member for the entirety of my time at Beacon. GOT IT?"

By this point my voice had slipped into an accent of some sort, warping my voice to a point where it didn't sound like mine.

"I was wrong, you are not some cushy Alesian schoolboy. I retract a few of my statements due to this new evidence." he said not breaking eye contact.

I blinked and let go of his armor, allowing him to stand straight again. "That's better, now, we should start looking for that relic."

 **Nathan's P.O.V**

This man below me sure surprised me. _Maybe he won't only last a day_ , I think to myself. "Let us be off then, I believe we must head north to find the temple."

We start heading due north in hopes of finding the temple. "So what is your name? I would rather not refer to you as 'Pinstripe' for the duration of the day."

The man in front of me cracked a grin, placed one foot behind the other, and gave an exaggerated bow. "The name's Ageis Pyro. and what is yours, might I ask?"

"My name is Nathan Minos of Mistral. But you may call me Minos, due to my dislike of my given name." I say, hoping he listens.

He stands back up and, with his grin still big, says "right, off we go _Nathanial._ " putting emphasis on the name I explicitly requested to not be used.

"Maybe I was right, maybe We should go our own ways." I say walking past him to continue our journey. I hear the sound of mock crying from behind me as Ageis speaks in an artificial saddened tone. "I..I am so *sniff* sorry Minos. I-it won't happen again. I promise!"

I placed my fingers one the bridge of my nose, and kept walking. "If I wish hard enough, he might become a mute." I mutter to myself as we make our way through the forest.

 **Kudos to Jarret for his part of the story, this was fun as hell. Next up is the combo between secretlovewriter and Chartate101. Till then, bye!**


	6. The Rampart and The Ranger

**The Rampart and the Ranger**

 **Ceder's P.O.V**

After my whole 'life flashes before your eyes' experience was over I finally noticed how fast I was headed for the forest. "AAAAHHH… oh wait *ahem* I hope nobody heard me" I say to myself as I look around trying to see what ways people are slowing themselves down.

Just when I thought I had a plan I remembered I was headed for a forest. "Haha of course stupid me" I once again say to myself 'note to self talk less to self' I think as I use my semblance to make the trees soften my landing.

'Good thing I have my semblance' I think to myself while I grin.

 **Rex's POV**

As soon as I'm in the air I extend my claw gauntlets. I happen to be flung along a long grey cliff. I scrape my long claws against the wall to slow my fall.

Once on the ground I start walking in no particular direction. _Too bad Mina didn't see that awesome landing,_ I say in my head. I couldn't stop thinking about my sister. I hope we get paired up, but that's unlikely. We trained together at our old school, Crystal, so we already know how to fight in tandem. Me dishing out fast swipes with my long, sharp claws, then dodging out of the way for to swing her flail. _We made a great team…._

 **Ceder's POV**

After I make my way to the ground I look for a stick and place it vertical so it'll fall in a direction. "That way it is" I say while I begin humming an old song about forests.

After a while I come to the conclusion that I don't like walking forever anymore so I just climb into a tree to get some rest while also looking out for people who could become my partner. Instead of finding people however I find grimm a bunch of them.

"Well it's why I joined the academy so I better start doing my job." I grab my hybrid bow then aim for the grimm I noticed earlier and release my first shots.

 **Rex's POV**

As I'm walking into a clearing I see another student. She is carrying a long hybrid bow and fighting a grimm. _I could help her…. But then I wouldn't be partnered with Mina. What would Boq do?_ I rush in at the grimm and start slashing and slashing away with my claws. After we take the grimm down I ask the woman,"What's your name? I'm Rex Azraq".

 **Ceder's POV**

"Nice to meet you Rex my name is Ceder Boom" I say as I put back my bow and take out something cone shaped with a string attached to the bottom.

I grin and I pull the string of the party popper "I'm happy to make your acquaintance partner. Let's become great friends during our time at beacon" I say after the party popper popped. I hold out my hand for Rex to shake my hand.

 **Rex's POV**

I regret my life decisions. I eagerly shake her hand. "Yeah great friends", I say, slightly sarcastically. She was… Eccentric, for lack of a better word. But the girl can fight so I'm not complaining.

"Lets just go and look for the relics", I say as we start walking.

End of Chapter, Hope you enjoyed

 **These guys… are gr8**


	7. Initiation

**This is the first chapter done in full collaboration with all members of the team involved… let's see how this turns out.**

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

I had fixed relations with the behemoth of a man and we were searching the forest for any sort of clearing. "Any clue where these 'relics' would be?" I asked.

"I believe it to be to the north of the cliffs." he said looking around the forest. An idea popped into my head and I split my sword in two, I found the tallest tree and began climbing it with the twin blades.

"Where are you going?" Minos asks as I climb. I glanced down the tree "bird's eye view and all that." When I finished climbing, I looked through the layer of leaves and saw the canopy consisting of similarly sized trees with a few taller ones spread throughout. I saw a ring of trees around a clearing, but wasn't high enough to see what was within.

Something else that I, in hindsight, should have been more worried about, was making large patches of the trees shake, and it sure as hell wasn't wind.

 **Minos' P.O.V**

"Can you see anything from up there?" I yell up at the potentially sap covered man.

He stuck his head through the branches, upside down, and said "there is a pretty notable clearing to the north, we should start heading that way."

"Good to know, get back down here and let's be off." _I should have brought a compass._ I think to myself. "We should also be one the lookout for potential team members." I say as I look in the direction Pyro pointed.

Once he was back on the ground, we start making our ways through the woods, watchful for initiates and grimm alike.

"Pyro, Who would you like to have for team mates? I kept to myself last night, Did you meet anyone?" I ask him casually.

"I haven't really met anyone, the lateness kind of prevented that. But as for who I would like, at least one girl." he says grinning. "All this charm can't go to waste." He then wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"My opinion of you continues to plummet faster than our launch off the cliff." I say once again pinching the bridge of my nose. "If we do, I will pray for her." Pyro smirked at me "Well, then you should start now."

 **Ceder's POV**

I look around feeling a shudder run across my back. "Something wrong?" my new partner asks me "Nothing I just thought I felt as though something bad just happened or is about to happening."

"Sure… let's just keep going. But where DO we go now anyway?" Rex asked

"Good question my dear partner let's ask the trees" I say as I walk to a random tree nearby. While I look over at Rex he looks at me like I'm about to try to talk to a tree… _Oh wait.._ "Oh right I haven't told you my semblance yet. Hmmm I won't show you everything just yet but it allows to talk to trees and other plants." Rex still looks a little unsure if he should believe me though. _I'll prove it._

"Are you ok? Maybe you hit your head when you landed." he said skeptically looking at me.

"Hey there miss big tree" I say trying to get the tree's attention. _Can you understand us?_ "Yeah, I understand you, my name is Ceder and that fellow over there is Rex though he can't hear you." _Nice to meet you Ceder, my name is Treetania_ "Likewise Treetania I don't want to bother you but would you happen to know the way to some empty space where people go to about every year around this time?" _No but then again I'm a tree, I don't move. Maybe you should try the old ruins to the north_ "Okay thanks so much for your time Treetania we'll be off now, bye." _Goodbye._

"My god, my partner's a basket case." Rex said in astonishment. "Why did they let you in?"

"The tree said to the north at some ruins, and I think I'm at beacon because I passed the test" I answered while walking north based on where the sun was, with Rex following behind me.

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

I heard some rustling and talking emanate from the forest. "So... You talk to plants?"

I turned to the source of the noise and called "hey, over here!" The voices stopped and I heard the noise of them coming towards me and Minos.

"Don't be so loud, are you trying to attract grimm?" Minos scolds. I scoff, "Hopefully, so far, this initiation has been nothing but talking."

Two people walked from the cover of the trees to greet us.

"It would be preferable to avoid needless battle. We here come the others, be ready, and don't embarrass us."

 **Ceder's POV**

We'd been walking for a while now when we suddenly heard voices calling out for us "Should we team up with them in our search for the relics or not? What do you think the best option would be?" I ask rex in a hushed voice.

The voice called out again "yes you should, and yes, we can hear you."

We then started walking towards where the voice was coming from. What we met one the other side of the tree line surprised me. Two people in the most polar opposite outfits watched us.

One dressed in full leather armor, and another in a suit. "... What's with the suit?" I ask as soon as I see it

"Trust me, if I knew I would have told you." The horned man stated.

"I see and you are?"

The man in the suit looked at me and his eyes lit up. He came over to me in what could only be described as a saunter and spoke. "My name is Ageis Pyro, and what might yours be madamé?" he said with an exaggerated bow.

"Ignore my sharply dressed friend, he gets a bit... _Overzealous_ , when meeting new people. As for me, I am Nathan Minos, but please just call me Minos, everyone does." He says, glaring at the man in the suit.

"Nice to meet you my name is Ceder and this is- ooh look at that tree it has such beautiful colors" I say running to a tree of many contrasts. "Oh yeah the guy with me is Rex"

The other two then focus on my partner behind me, where Rex stands lost in thought.

 **MINOS' P.O.V**

When the girl motions to her partner, I walk up and introduce myself. "Hello sir Rex, my name is Minos." He looks up and promptly falls one his ass, exclaiming. "Will I ever meet any normal people?"

"I'm afraid those are far and few between." I say to the sitting man, as his partner starts talking to trees.

I notice Pyro looking at Ceder and know what he's thinking, so I walk up behind him.

"Don't you dare, inter-team relationships are now officially banned. So don't do anything." I say to him looking down. He merely looks up at me, a grin painted across his face. "You wis-"

A loud roar silenced the suited man, his grin dropping in an instant in favor of a serious expression.

"Looks like we are not as alone as I had hoped." I said reaching for my sword and shield. "Pyro, Rex, Ceder, It's time to put ourselves to the test."

 **Rex's POV**

Well at least I've made 1 normal friend…..

The large sized grimm starts clawing and Ceder, who just keeps shooting at it. I groan and rush forward hacking and slashing at the bear like grimm.

Ceder pulls back her bowstring and keeps shooting an array of arrows. Puro pulls out his blade and charges at the titanic ursa. While the grimm is distracted by Pyro and Ceder I start to shoot off my claws as rockets, as new ones start to take their place. Given my affinity for claws its surprising that I'm not a faunus. The missiles zoom at high speed toward the unsuspecting creature.

" _ **DUCK**_!" I scream at my new friends. Pyro manages to avoid the crossfire, but some of the impact pushes Ceder to the ground.

Then it takes advantage of the situation and lunges at Ceder and I use my semblance, calling shields light to protect. While my semblance is cool, my training at Krystal was not. Everything seems to fade to black as I slip out of consciousness.

 **Ageis's P.O.V**

I watched the new guy take a dive, a Semblance like that cannot be efficient. I mutter a few plans to myself but come to the same conclusion each time, "we need another…" Just saying the words gave me an idea. I shout to my still conscious comrades. "Give me a minute, I have an idea!"

I sheath my sword and focus, my silver aura flares over my suit. I step back and the aura takes shape, turning into a humanoid silhouette. Then, color flows through the aura and it seems to solidify.

Standing before me is a carbon copy of myself, save for a few differences. He is a few inches taller, with a much wider stature. His eyes are a shade of Crimson and he dons a grin. He turned to me and i can see that he has forgone my suit jacket and the sleeves of my dress shirt are rolled up to his shoulders.

I put a hand out and he grabs it, his grin unchanging. "Been a while, but I can see why you summoned me." his voice is low and accented. He pulls the large sword off of his back and splits it to the paired swords. He places both of them in one hand and pulls two clips labeled '.5 MG' and slots them into the blades.

I do the same with my single sword. "So, how'd you want to do this brother?" his grin is unchanging. "You already know brother" I turn and shout "Somebody, restrain it!"

 **Ceder's P.O.V**

After Rex negated the ursa's attack I retreat a little from the about 5 meter ursa so I can take aim.

"Give me a minute, I have an idea!" my newly met friend shouts at us while he takes cover behind some trees. The ursa then charges at Rex who gets thrown back and caught by Minos.

After about 15 seconds Ageis suddenly shouts for one of us to restrain the ursa. _This is my chance_ I think to myself while I put away my bow and concentrate as much as I possibly can to get all the trees' attention " **Listen to me my tree friends I am in need of your strengths please allow me to use you** " I say out loud.

My eyes burn a green like energy while I use my semblance to control the trees around us. " **ATTACK!** " I shout/command the trees as they suddenly pull their roots from the earth and start moving towards the ursa.

The trees are surprisingly fast and start constricting the ursa as much as possible.

"Whatever your plan is Ageis you'll have to be fast I already used my semblance too much in the past few days and I will probably faint" I shout towards Ageis and my other new friends.

 **Ageis's P.O.V.**

I looked to the tangled ursa and then to my double "test the waters, you go high, I go low" he nodded and the grin turned into a stoic grit. We ran to the tied up beast and he leapt into the air, kicking off tree after tree, slashing at any open patches of fur.

I did the same to its legs and torso, slashing and slicing with my blade. I took note of any spot that seemed to have more give and cut easier and relayed it by thought. At the same time, I heard thoughts like _"shoulders, elbows, neck"_ echoing through my head.

After slashing the legs enough, I found a soft spot on the back of each knee. I relayed the thought and he relayed back that there were weak points on each shoulder. I then ran out from between the giant's legs and jumped with one hand up.

I looked up and saw my double grab my hand and swing. I was launched up and he was thrown to the ground. I popped the empty clips from my sword and slipped two grenades into the barrels and shut the barrels. I split the sword into two and dived back toward the titan.

I drove both of the blades into the beast's shoulders and pulled the triggers. At the same time, my doppleganger fired his guns and launched forward. At the same time, the monster's arms were blown off and its legs were sliced off.

I backflipped off of the former shoulders and reconnected my swords. I pulled a catch and one blade slid forward and rotated so that both of the barrels were attached. I pulled a fairly large cartridge out of my jacket and chambered it.

I kneeled down, took a deep breath, lined up the shot, and fired. The shockwave from my rifle shook the ground and sent waves through the air. The bullet, upon exiting the barrel, burst into a sphere of energy and sped up.

The energy slammed into the stumpy ursa and exploded, blasting a hole in the titan, killing it.

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

I wake up, and see my new friends surrounding me. "What'd I miss?" I ask.

 **Minos' P.O.V.**

I watched as Pyro summoned, Himself? He must have a cloning semblance. I notice The girl, Ceder, was using the plants to help the Ageis'. _Ageisa's, Agei? I don't know. What IS the plural of his name?_

I see that they appear to have the beast under control. That is when the unconscious form our the Rex guy is thrown towards me. I react quickly dropping my sword and catching him before he is slammed into a tree.

"Hmmm, he needs to eat more." I mumble as I set him down. After we make it, I think it's best we change his diet. I pick up and sheath my weapon so to easily help my fallen comrade. He appears to be fine. Bruised from the Ursa launching him, but it seems he only exhausted his Aura making him pass out. _We must also work on your endurance with your Aura._

I look back to the fray and realize this is the best chance for me to retrieve the relic. The three of them could attract any near by Grimm, and eliminate them.

"Pyro, I will continue north to find the relic." I yell hoping he hears me over the beast. "Divide and conquer after all."

Before I leave however, I place Rex in a tree to keep him out of harm's way. Once I deem him high and stable enough, I continue my trek for the relic site.

 _Quiet so far, but That could easily change_. I try to avoid stepping on any fallen branches as I make my way through the forest. As I passed by what seemed like a small cave, I came across an Ursa Minor and a Beowolf. "Might as well, haven't had a rush of adrenaline since my 'flight.'"

I unsheathe my sword "Písti", a roman style gladius and unclasp my shield from my back. The shield named "Sthénos" I almost as tall as I am, protecting me from most attacks. An Insignia of a vine covered tree faces toward the Grimm.

"In Faith and Fortitude!" I shout as I rush the Ursa. I get off a few swift slashes, but its hide prevents me from cutting too deep. _Looks like slashing won't work._ I think while glancing to the Beowulf circling us. _But it will one him._ I dodge a swipe by the ursa and bash its face with Sthénos and run to the thinner of the two.

I reach the creature catching it off guard, and stabbing its arm, tearing through the muscle, leaving the arm useless. Howling in pain, the monster slashes with its remaining arm. I easily deflect the blow and slice the offending hand through its palm. "Not so handy now, are ya?" _Why did I say that?_

In a last attempt the beast tried to bite at me, only to receive a fist to the jaw. Then to the chest, the throat, the knee, with each hit I began to glow brighter. After a headbut, horn peircing its skull plate, the wolf stopped moving and started to dissipate, clear sign of its death.

Suddenly a claw comes out of nowhere. Caught off guard, my sword is knocked from my hand in a slow attempt to block it. _Forgot about big n' brutal over there_. Ok, sword is next to the beast, semblance is active, Only have Sthénos. Easy.

 **This is the single longest chapter I have ever written, even with more than just me writing, 3k is a lot of words. Now that all I said and done, see you next chapter!**


	8. ARCN's formation

**This was supposed to be day 1, it is not. That comes next.**

 **MINOS' P.O.V.**

"Písti is too far away, guess it up to Sthénos to take you down." I say as back up slightly. I grab the bottom handle one the shields bottom and press a button.

The shield starts to collapse in the middle as two blades emerge from the top. The middle starts to smooth out, ending its shift. Instead of a shield, I now hold a double bladed battle ax and am ready for action.

I wait for the beast to move first, knowing when it charges, it won't be able to stop easily. After about thirty seconds the beast becomes impatient and rushes me, just as planned. As soon as it gets close enough I dodge out of the way.

As it barrels past, I slash at it with Sthénos' ax form. Once again, its hide is too thick to cut through completely. _I really need to sharpen these more_. The ursa roars in pain and anger after what I did.

The ursa runs at me instead, I prepare to sidestep once more, but the beast seemed to understand my ploy. Instead of charging past, it rolled to its side, spikes impacting me roughly and sending me skidding a few yards.

I quickly get up and notice i'm still glowing. _Good, I should be able to take another hit before my aura starts to drop_. I won't allow that to happen.

"Grrrrr! Come on! Is that all you got?! Sheep faunus hit harder than you!" I yell at the beast, hoping to enrage it once more.

I get what I want, the Ursa charges head on towards me. This time I plant my feet and stand my ground. I brace myself for the oncoming hit.

When the ursa makes contact, I grab its face and shove Sthénos' shaft down its throat. Without its ability to breathe, it starts to panic. Seeing my chance, I remove two poles attached to my shins. I don't have Písti for its transformation, but blunt force works just as well as stabbing.

I start laying in hits onto the distracted beast, once again glowing brighter with each hit. "You have distracted me from my goal long enough _little cub_!". I only stop when I see it starting to dissipate.

I take a chance to catch my breath at retrieve my fallen weapons. I re-transform Sthénos into a shield, and put back the poles, and sheath Písti.

"Great, I bet the others are closer to the relics than I am at this point." I start my hike northwards again. After a good five minutes of walking I come across a huge clearing with ruins in the middle.

"Well if this isn't the site, then I'll let Ceder paint my horns." I don't see my team members around, so I head to the stone pedestals. When I get there, the relics surprise me.

"Really now." The relics are playing cards: Aces, kings, queens, the whole court. "No Pyro, Rex, or Ceder, I half expected them to be here waiting for me. Guess I get to decide which we get." That brings a smile to my face. I examine each card, trying to choose.

 _Not the king or queen, I don't care for the burden of leadership, the Ace though... Not in charge, but still powerful. Heart? No, the heart is too vulnerable, maybe Ceder would have. Spade or diamond? No, Pyro or rex would choose them. I look to the Ace of clubs; there we go._ perfect, it hasn't been taken.

Having made my choice, I pick up the card and wait for the rest of my team. I take this time to think about who it is I'm paired with.

Pyro is ok, Not the type person preferred, but he seems to be moderately respectable. He is skilled, there is no doubting that. I'll have to keep an eye on him, He seems keen to hit it off with Ceder.

Ceder, she seems to be a free spirit, and that's putting it lightly. She seems innocent from my initial meeting. I am not completely confident in her battle prowess so far, but I have only seen a little of her skill.. For a human, I think I can trust her, she did not appear to be disgusted by us becoming teammates. But I'll hold off my final verdict until later.

Then there is her partner, Rex. He seems decent, I have a feeling he is disappointed in his team. His battle prowess is lacking, as well as his aura strength. _We will need to fix this_. His semblance could be helpful, shields of light can be useful. His personality is unknown, whether I can trust him, only time can tell.

Suddenly movement along the tree line caught my attention.

 **Pyro's P.O.V.**

I admired my handiwork, a giant ursa major, 'disarmed' and shot through the heart. While admiring the handiwork of my doppleganger and i, i felt an odd feeling. I looked over to the clone and saw that he was… _eyeing up_ the female member of our team.

I strolled over and bonked him on the head, "eyes front, soldier" he merely turned with a cocky grin on his face and grabbed my hand. He began to glow and then dissipated into the air. I turned to the only nearby member of my team and found her awestruck.

 **Ceder's P.O.V.**

"You.. YOU!.. YOU CAN MAKE A CLONE?! THAT'S AWESOME!" I say after a few seconds of silence

Ageis smirks and crosses his arms "yep" he says with a popping P.

"I suppose we're going to find minos now so me and Rex can also pick a relic? Wait don't answer that, that was a rhetorical question. Now then which direction did Minos run off to." I say while brushing the dirt off my clothes.

"Well? Let's go!" I yell smiling to my partner and future teammate

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

A voice: _Might I compare thee to a summer dream?_

Rex flinched, groaning, "Ugh, god, please no, I don't care who you are, what imaginary being your voice belongs to, but please, don't you dare start writing poetry." He blinked, eyes weary as he awoke amidst the upper layer of a tree, lying atop a branch. "Ok… ok, I don't remember this. I mean, this isn't the first time I've woken up in a tree, but… ok, no, there's clearly something wrong with that statement, for after all, _of course this is my first time in a tree!"_ Rex jolted forward, blinking as he said, "No, wait… calm down… there's a reason I'm here. I don't think it's a good reason, but if I must, I can just make one up. Ah… everything is starting to make sense now; I _didn't_ fall down a cliff… I _didn't_ totally get my ass kicked, and here I am… at peace with myself…"

Rex found himself twitching in annoyance as he immediately shook his head, eyes shut as he began to say, "No, no, no, I am not here to become at peace. Weapons!" He stood up at this, the branch beneath him beginning to shift. "Violence! Adventure! All… very eccentric things to pursue!"

Rex began to laugh, shoulders slumping as he lost that determination, saying, "Yes, yes, because I _totally_ believe that." He glanced below him, staring in silence as he murmured, "I should… um… probably get down from here."

A rustling of leaves, and the sound of boots hitting the ground. Rex rose from his kneeling position, immediately assuming an excited pose, eyes bright as he shouted out, "Yes, I am prepared, comrades! Let us fight til the end, together!"

"..." Silence, as no one answered, in the forest of which Rex is alone.

"Ah! Right! They're gone! That's great. Very great. Well, not at all, but here I am… ah, crap, I was really hoping to do something awesome… at least, something more than falling down a cliff and getting my ass kicked… ah, no, now I'm repeating myself!" Rex took a deep breath, ignoring the rustling in the near distance. "It's alright. You'll have a chance to make an impression later. It's just… this is just a misfortunate turn of events-"

 _Crack._ The sound of a distant gunshot left Rex flinching as a bullet tore through the forest, zipping amidst shattered leaves and decaying wood, leaving Rex to whip back, a _clang_ as his claws extended and nearly tore out their respective gauntlets, and shield himself with a burst of light as his aura did most of the work. With his gauntlets raised before him and a flicker of light as the aura shield revealed itself in time to stop the bullet, Rex had a moment's worth of time to watch as the bullet struck the wall, bending against nothing, and was flung back.

The aura shield flickered and vanished, leaving Rex to stand, a calm gaze focused in the direction of his attacker. "Now now, I don't like the fact that I nearly died just now…" Smiling nervously, he drew back, dragging his left foot back and pressing against the ground, his claws before him as he performed a defensive stance. With a nervous smile across his face, Rex muttered, "Come on bud, this isn't any sort of real danger… it's just a minor threat, easily blockable so long as you notice it… ah, crap, I had better not have to play defensively."

 _Crack-crack-crack-_ Rex flinched as he listened to the extensive series of gunshots.

Almost mechanical in nature, the pattern in which the gunshots began to sound. Unlike a machine, however, the pattern did not raise itself from obscurity. Eyes darting back to glare in the direction of the first gunshot, Rex tore through the space around him with a furious swipe of his claws, eyes burning as he tore through the space where he thought the bullet would be.

Instead, he tore through nothing, and found himself amidst silence once more.

"Heh?" Rex drew back once more, muttering, "Am I, perhaps, not the original target?"

He found his partly-answered answer when lights began to glow amidst the forest in one direction, growing larger and larger as they drew nearer and nearer. Rex glanced around him, saying, "Hold on, I heard, at most, like three gunshots; logic dictates that there would be three bullets- ah, who the hell am I kidding!?" His right gauntlet tightening into a fist, Rex grit his teeth as a crescent light began to glow, illuminated as a result of Rex's very existence.

 _Now, there are two ways I can do this. The first: cool, fashionable, just plain kickass with just the right amount touch of douchebaggery; I mean, looking cool comes at a cost… though with consideration to the fact that this cost might very well end in my death, I think I like the second option far more: I use my shield, I protect myself, and look like a wimp in the process._

 _No, wait, wait… if I remember correctly, I_ enjoy _staying alive._ Rex grinned sadly as he murmured, "I guess that settles it-" Rex nearly activated a proper shield, and might have surely taken cover as he had wanted, had the bullets not torn through the trees with such violent force, that for a few, dreadfully slow moments, Rex found himself entrapped within a storm of lead; himself being the fleshy being that would surely very much _not_ want to be entrapped within a storm of lead.

Twitching in annoyance, but mostly fear, Rex knelt down and darted forward, his aura partly activated as he whirled and plunged his gauntlet forward, feeling the trigger beneath his finger as he pulled, an explosion of lead shooting forward and tearing through the much-more composed wall of bullets.

A few bullets darting past him, as a result of his changing locations, Rex whirled back and fired, and then again, and then again, his gauntlets spraying bullets into the air around him in a consistent stream; a desperate attempt to counteract the bullets, and even so, Rex found himself grinning, a trace of his fear vanishing as his own bullets split through the air around him in a glorious fashion; for a few, wonderfully slow moments, Rex found himself standing amidst an open space, his gauntlets raised in a single direction as he kept pulling the triggers and hearing that faint _click-click_ , understanding that he would be needing a reload; around him, Rex stood amidst a shower of empty shells and bent metal, of which began to fall…

Rex suppressed a shriek as the remnants of every bullet fired fell, leaving him to stand still with wide eyes as the open field, once a place of green grass where the occasional flower grew, became littered, overthrown by the vast number of bullets that continued to fall from the ground, very much like a metal rain.

It was only then, as the last bullet fell and wiped away the last trace of grass, that Rex realized he was still pulling the triggers, even with the gauntlets pointed downward to clutch himself in fear. He seemed to freeze at this, sighing as he stopped himself and began freeing his wrists of tension as he felt for the bolts, pulling both back and hearing the _click-click_ of fresh magazines sliding into place.

Rex waited, observing the forest before him, seeing nothing. _Come on… if there's no one there, then I'll look very much like an idiot, but if no one is, then I'd be celebrating the fact that I wouldn't have to fight any longer… ah, damn it…_ Rex flinched as he raised an armored hand, pressing it against his sleeveless shirt, feeling the bulletproof vest beneath it. With a few torn holes in the shirt, what few bullets Rex had failed to negate had managed to beat against his vest.

Rex raised an armored fist in triumph, weakly muttering, "Wooh… yeah… I didn't get severely injured… heh heh… that's… something that I'm going to pretend isn't a problem I have to deal with." He returned his gaze in the direction the bullets had fired from, leaving him in a state of discontent, murmuring, "The easiest way to find out what it is I'm dealing with, would be to head in the direction the threat came from… but… ugh, do I really _have_ to?" Rex muttered anxiously to himself with a hint of annoyance as began to move in the direction the bullets came from.

He blinked, saying, "Ah! Almost forgot!" He began to stretch his arms, muttering, "Always need a quick stretch before engaging in anything potentially life-threatening…" He shook the tension from his wrists, dropping down and pressing a hand against the ground, and taking off into a sprint, leaving the clearing and finding himself running through a series of trees, their branches wrenched from their place, the trees themselves appearing to be in a ruined state.

 _Ah, please don't let it be a gun-toting Grimm, please don't let it be a gun-toting Grimm, please don't let it be a gun-toting Grimm…_

 **Pyro's p.o.v**

I smiled in satisfaction at my future teammates reaction, I do love a good surprise. Someone else's that is, I am extremely jumpy and can be very erratic when surprised. Take for instance, the next five seconds.

While my mind was on other things, someone ran out of the forest and came very close to me. A heel spin, a fist cocked back, and the combined force of my spin and my fist clotheslined the running individual. He lay on the ground, still conscious, but writhing.

"Oh… sorry friend" I extended a hand to the man and lifted him off of the ground. I gathered my compatriots and left the clearing where the behemoth ursa once lay. After walking a ways, we came across the last member of our team sitting in a circle of pillars.

 **MInos' P.O.V.**

"About time you sloths showed up," I say addressing my team. "I was just about to go looking for you all."

I get up and present the 'relic' I chose. "Ace of Clubs is what I have retrieved." I say flashing the playing card to my partner. "You can hold one to it in on of your pockets."

"Sure f, But wouldn't you want to carry it?" he asks placing it in his breast pocket. "You retrieved it after all."

"I... Don't have any pockets" I say turning from him. "It is a design flaw on my part..."

"Well ok then Minos, let's just head back to the school ok?" Ceder says grabbing my attention. "We should head out before it starts to get dark, fighting Grimm in the darkness is suicide."

"Right." I grunt as Pyro takes the lead to bring us back to beacon.

I notice Rex is awake again and walking besides Ceder. "I see you are well again Rex, I was worried after you blacked out."

"Yeah, I woke up in a tree. I don't suppose that was you was it?" he asks incredulously.

"Yes, You were in danger of being attacked while unconscious. And I saw fit to place you out of harm's way." I say looking down at him. "Did you have trouble getting down?"

"N-no, not at all. Thanks for the help."

"Not a problem."

Eventually we reach the cliffs at the edge of the forest where beacon is built on. "There appears to be a narrow path winding up the cliff's face." Pyro says pointing up. And indeed there is a small trail going up it. "This should lead us all the way back to beacon. It also looks too narrow for anything grimm sized, sorry Minos." He says grinning.

"Hmph. We'll see won't we now?" I say as I walk towards the path. "I am not that large."

And indeed the path is quite narrow forcing me to travel it sideways. "Say a word and you get to experience another flight over the forest." I say to Pyro who is in front of me one the path.

"I have not said a single word since we started the climb… *ahem* fatso *ahem*" He says looking back, my urge to kill increases.

"I am not fat, I am muscular enough to snap your neck like a glowstick." I growl in response. "The sooner we get up there the better."

After about 10 minutes our so, we make it to the top of the cliff. "Oh it feels good to stretch again." I say giving my arms some much needed attention.

"Shouldn't we make our way to beacon soon? We have to give them the relic right?" Ceder asks pointing to the school. "I'd hate to be late for the naming ceremony."

"Yeah, it's where we get our team name right? What do you think it will be? Rex asks nobody in particular.

Pyro takes a moment to think. "ARCN or maybe RANC"

"Whatever it may be, I trust the headmaster to come up with something that represents us all" Ceder says looking up at the approaching building. "I look forward to being one a team with all of you."

 _Well it truly is clear that she holds no prejudice, that is good_. I think to myself. _We need more people like her. I think Rex might be of a similar mindset as well. That will make life far easier._. I am interrupted from my thoughts by the noise of students in the auditorium hall. We find ourselves some seats near the middle of the auditorium. "Let's see what the future holds for our team."

 **Ceder's P.O.V.**

I stood next to my group on the stage, a crowd of other students filling the auditorium waiting for the ceremony to start. "Hey guys why do you think that ursa was so big?" I ask my teammates as the headmaster begins the ceremony.

"Ageis Pyro, Rex Regium, Ceder Boom, and Nathan Minos. The four of you retrieved the Ace of clubs cards. From this day forward you will work together as, Team ARCN" Ozpin announced "I called it you guys" I whisper to the rest of team ARCN "Led by Ageis Pyro" Ozin concludes as we leave the stage so the next team can receive their name.

 **As i said, not day one, more like the opening to pre-day one. See you next chapter!**


	9. ARCN's Introduction

**So here is the actual day one, sorry about the last one. :b**

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

We stepped off the stage, a slew of overzealous brags came to mind, but I wanted to be a bit more tactful with the six foot bull-faunus behind me. "Soooooo, I guess I'm the boss now!" the reaction by my partner was less than excited, "Why is my initial not next to yours!?" he exclaimed. "Why did they use my first name!?"

I shrug, "beats me" the blonde teacher accompanying ozpin that I now knew as Prof. Goodwitch handed us a notecard with our room number on it.

"This is the room your team is assigned to for your stay here. If there are any concerns, forward them to the staff here." She said moving on to the next team. I took point and led us through the halls.

We had gathered our stuff in the auditorium prior to announcements, each person had sizeable luggage that seemed appropriate for their size and weapon of choice. That being said, my father dropped off the rest of my "cargo" prior to the announcements and I had two duffel bags, two suitcases, a backpack, and a cartoonishly large munitions storage unit that minos was carrying, much to his dismay.

"Remind me why I am the designated bellboy of the group?" I grinned and responded in kind, "you are the biggest, and therefore strongest, you expect any of us to be able to carry this."

"Ceder tells me you can create sentient clones, why not use them?" Ceder confirms his question with a happy nod. I bit my lip out of embarrassment, "yeah… good idea" I stopped and focused my aura, my silvery white aura flared red and I stepped forward, half of my luggage transported onto Ageti.

"Not what I meant..." He growls.

 **Minos' P.O.V.**

 _I'm going to kill him_. I think to myself. I sigh to myself and continue walking. "How close are we to our room Pyro?" I ask my "ingenious leader".

"Riiiiiiiiight here!" he says, managing to pull his scroll from his pocket and pressing it to the door. The door unlocks and he opens it, letting us in.

"Home sweet home." Ceder says, entering the room. "Who wants which bed?"

"I want the one farthest from Pyro." I say, dropping Pyro's case loudly on the ground before moving to mine in the corner of the room.

"This is bed is to be my space" I announce to my team. "Nobody comes into my space without my permission."

"Allriiight, don't worry man" Rex says while unpacking. "I just hope nobody is a snorer"

"I can assure you I am not one." I say to the man. Unknown to us all, Ceder begins unpacking at a faster pace while hiding her face.

Pyro's clone walks over to the case and gives it a kick, sending it sliding to the wall. Pyro himself walks over to the box and presses a button, the seemingly seamless case opens up and expands. In a matter of seconds, the wall is adorned with a rack of enough ammunition to start a war.

"That seems... a bit unnecessary." Rex says, looking in awe. Pyro glares at him and kicks a catch, revealing a small box and a bucket of miscellaneous individual munitions, sniper slugs, grenades, and shotgun shells. "Nothing is unnecessary."

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

A few calm steps, amidst the occasional bickering, and Rex came to stand before the bed in the corner, hidden away from the light partly streaming in through the window, of which wore parted curtains, yet even with them parted, this corner of the room remained obscured and in the dark; just out of one's narrow perspective, this corner maintained a sense of closed-off isolation, akin to that of a shut room or a persisting lack of activity; dead; lifeless even. Distancing himself away from the conversation, Rex found himself staring off, thinking of nothing. He began to set his baggage beside the bed, carrying the smallest amount of any of them, of which consisted of a single case, his blue jacket with a dark green tint being hurriedly stuffed in. Opening the case, he allowed himself to set the jacket on the bed, gazing back into his case, and seeing nothing more than a small collection of similar clothing to what he currently wore. A single memento of his home was kept stuffed underneath the collection of clothing, of which Rex maintained a solid few moments gaze with, before promptly shutting the case.

Having shut the case, deciding that he had no real reason to unpack, Rex rose, turning and taking a sit on the bed, blinking once before glancing down, his left hand rubbing the edge of the bed as he murmured, "…it's soft…"

Rex blinked once more, raising his head and turning his attention away from the bed, and towards the three other compatriots in the room. To his left, the fellow known as Minos had begun to unpack, requiring far more effort than either Ageis nor Rex himself had undergone. Now without having the burden of another's luggage thrust upon him, Minos began to remove a few sets of bundled clothing, of which he promptly tossed aside, the clothes bouncing off the wall and onto his bed. Rex maintained that same dull gaze as he watched Minos unpack multiple cases of dumbbells, quite clearly large enough to crush Rex's head, and what appeared to be a small plushie, of which Minos immediately grew fascinated with, halting his unpacking progress.

Rex glanced away from Minos, instead glancing at the other corner out the light's path, directly across from him and neatly the exact furthest away from where Minos was located, Minos's bed being amongst the closest two to the door to their room, whereas Rex and this other fellow remained the furthest away from the door.

At a frantic rate, Ageis began to unpack crate after crate, with bullet shells spilling and slipping through the cracks every few moments, the pinstriped young man acting with an energetic fervor to his unpacking, eagerly removing a crate from one of his larger cases, placing it down on the floor and kneeling beside it, sliding a hand along the edge as he seemed to giggle with an odd edge to it, his fingers tapping the wooden side, pulling at the corners where the crate might be opened. It would be at this moment, where he would lightly push the crate away from him, an almost sorrowful tint to his action, before repeating the process with another crate of ammunition.

After watching Ageis unpack a good five more, Rex seemed to frown to himself, slouching forward, his hands between his knees as he sighed, murmuring to himself, "Thinking back, today could have gone a bit better, couldn't it?" His eyes narrowed, casting that dull tone once more, his fingers entwining as he thought, _The same could be said for any, I guess. Though, at least with those days, I could stand to be a bit more optimistic. As for today, I displayed neither the intellect nor strength that was expected of me… I mean, how often does someone get the chance to make a good first impression?_ Rex slouched further, his head lowered and looking down at his entwined fingers. _I could have done better, so much better, but it's useless to say such a thing. I… I didn't do anything. There wasn't any point, was there?_

Rex sighed at this, his eyes narrowing further, nearly blurring his vision. He shifted his gaze, towards the final corner, of which stood the furthest away from him, where Ceder continued to unpack, herself sitting atop her bed as she removed her own clothing from her packs. An unassembled pile of twigs remained scattered on the floor, while Ceder removed a small picture frame from her pack, briefly examining it with a bright expression affixed to her face, before setting it aside.

Ageis lifted a crate, groaned as he set it aside, took a few steps back while brushing his hands against his suit. With an adjustment to his tie and a sigh, a smile crossed his lips as he whipped around with that cheerful grin, pointing before him as he exclaimed, "Consider this, my friends! Who here enjoys the taste of melting ice cream on a warm, summer day?"

Rex raised his head, shifting his gaze from Ceder to Ageis, while Minos murmured a brief few words before pressing the plushie onto the bed and turning back towards the speaking fellow, whereas Ceder simply glanced in his direction, having already been more or less facing him.

Rex blinked a few times, that same dull gaze of his growing skeptical. "Do we… what?"

"Melting ice cream; summer day. Come on. Go."

"I… I really don't care." Even as Rex said this, Minos took a sudden step forward, appearing quite angry as he thrust his arms to his sides, exclaiming, "Heathen! You dare mention that of which might have less than fifty grams of protein!? What idiocy is this!?"

Rex shifted nervously, saying to Minos, "Hold on, why do _you_ care about this random burst of idiocy?"

Minos glared at Rex, pointing at him, shouting, "I might ask you, why you _don't_ care! Have you no pride!? No shame!? Are you content with starving yourself!?" Minos staggered away, as if suffering a fatal blow as he lowered his head, expression clouded in shadow as he demanded, "Or are you a gluttonous slob, engaging in only the most questionable of acts amongst food eaters?"

Rex couldn't bring himself to utter a response. Ceder, meanwhile, seemed to jolt right up and stood atop her bed, eyes wide and bright as she exclaimed, "Why? Isn't it best to eat that which makes us happy!?" She turned to glare at Minos with that same happy, yet confident glare, pressing a hand against her chest as she said, "I can't say much about protein…" Her eyes darted, accentuating her serious tone as she demanded, "But have you never had melted ice cream on a warm summer day!?"

Ageis snapped his fingers, pointing in Ceder's direction. "She gets it."

Rex flinched. "I'd like to say that _I_ don't. Is that even a valid response?"

Ageis began to laugh, before stopping abruptly, his expression shifting to that of a serious tone. "No."

Rex groaned at this, slumping further, if that could be considered possible. "Is there a point to this?"

"Why, of course!" Ageis threw his hands in either direction, exclaiming brilliantly as sparks and bright lights seemed to shine and scatter amidst him, "I've started an icebreaker, and have dragged all of you into a social engagement, leading to you all to sharing your life stories with the rest!" 

Minos stepped towards Ageis, shouting, "I refuse to believe that! I will not be deterred! You've begun a war, and you shall face the consequences!"

Ageis blinked in surprise. "What? No, that was just an excuse to get you all to start talking-"

Ceder jumped off her bed, landing beside Ageis as she unslung her bow, her expression darkening as she smiled brightly, exposing her teeth as she said, "Ah, so it's a battle that you want? Very well, but it's a war that you'll get."

Ageis considered for a moment to tell them to stop, only for a brief moment of wisdom to occur to him. _Never back down from a situation, no matter how ridiculously stupid it was of you to start._ Raising a fist to his chest, with tears blurring his vision, Ageis muttered happily, "I'll do you proud. You'll see, you'll see." Ageis stepped towards Minos, pupils shrinking as he shouted, "Very well, I accept your war declaration! From here on out, whenever protein is involved, you shall find yourself burning amidst the ruins of your meat, and I will be there to laugh down at you, a lesser being, not because of your social status, but because you're a dumbass that worships protein! You make me _sick!"_

Rex considered backing away, only for Minos to turn, make a few sudden, frightening strides towards him, grabbing him and leaving Rex to flail wildly before being propped up beside Minos, as the larger man shouted out, "It is _we_ who should be saying those words! You have signed your death sentence; do not blame us for when we take the lives of all those you hold dear!"

Rex glanced at Minos, still being clutched tightly. "Hold on, that's a bit extreme, isn't it? No, wait…" Rex tsked in annoyance, pulling away from Minos, exclaiming, "The hell is this!? I don't want to get involved! Let go of me! There's a time for a place for all this!"

Ceder, Ageis, and Minos seemed to nod at this, Minos saying, "Ah… I guess so. It would be quite problematic if our room were destroyed on day one, amidst our 'political' conflict."

Rex struggled even harder. "Political!? Are we nations of pro-protein and anti-protein now!?"

Ceder slung her bow, walking over to her bed and taking a seat, while everyone else remained standing. Ageis pressed his hands against his hips, almost as if nothing had happened. He seemed to whip his hair to the side, momentarily giving off the appearance of a self-righteous douchebag, before saying, "Now then, time for proper introductions. As sad as I am to say it, simply saying our names won't do it."

 **Ageis's P.O.V.**

"*ahem*" I coughed, composing myself. I have a tendency to rant. "I might as well go first, I did start this whole dilemma. My name is Ageis Scyrus Pyro, i'm 17 years old and hail from the nation of Atlas. My father is Major Arcus Pyro, he was a soldier who became a scientist who discovered an entirely new form of dust. My mom is Scarlett Pyro, a faunus huntress. Being half faunus might not be apparent due to no immediate visible characteristics, but I am, don't worry." I steal a glance at the six footer. "But more on me, I've been homeschooled before I came here, but that doesn't mean I didn't get a full education. Being a scientist, my father knew quite a bit about the world and my mother was there to fill in any blanks, like history and english. Being a higher up at atlas meant that my dad was able to get all sorts of military grade goodies to train me with as well as to make my own tool."

I slid my tool out of its sheath and placed it in full view of my teammates. "This is Chimera Colbrand, a broadsword/dual sword/twin assault rifles/smgs/shotguns/ leg exoskeleton/knives/heavy machine gun/sniper rifle/katana/ and maybe something else, I had a lot of caffeine in my system while building the weapon. "

An idea occurred to me and I placed my hands together, my aura flared and the silvery white flashed red and I stepped back. My doppleganger formed and cocked his head back with a grin. "Heeeelllllloooooo gentlemen, _ladies_ " he winked at ceder and I elbowed him in the side.

"I was always kind of rattling through our friend Ageis' head, he isn't exactly right in the head" I elbowed him harder. "But I digress, with his training, he found himself able to reach out to me and pull me into the material plane via his aura."

He nodded to me and I grabbed a small dust crystal from one of my boxes. I tossed it to him. "Other than being very light and agile, I have the distinct pleasure of being able to manipulate raw dust, like this." he popped the crystal into his mouth and let out a jet of fire. "But the other wonderful thing is this"

He closed his eyes and his body flared back into raw aura, when it reformed, he was an exact replica of himself, only female, with long black hair and clothes built more for a woman. He was a bit… excessive with the 'assets'. And turned to me with a smile and a hand on hi… her(?) ass.

The figure in front of me puckered their lips and leaned towards me, before the situation got more awkward than it was, he vanished into thin air. I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Right, that was Ageti, who's next?"

 **Minos' P.O.V.**

What the hell... "The world is not big enough for two of you Pyro, and neither is this room." I say to the man. "I think I speak for us all when I say that your 'twin' changing like that was... Stange."

"I guess since I'm your partner I should go next" I say before mumbling to myself. "Why the hell am I not second in our name."

My name is Nathan, NOT Nathanial, Minos. Though I would prefer it that you call me by my second name. I am 17 years old. I come from the nation of Mistral, and was raised in a foster home. I would rather not delve deep into my childhood, I don't know you all well enough yet.

"My weapons are all multi-form, and none have projectile aspects." I point to the sword leaning against my bed next to my shield, "Písti is my sword that I use with Sthénos during most combat scenarios.

Looking at my shield "The design of the vine entangled tree is a version of my own personal insignia, which is a tree inside an acorn." This got an interesting reaction from Ceder, our resident floraphille.

"These two extendable poles connect to Písti and transform it into its glaive form for mid ranged combat." I say as I start cleaning up my space. "It has a hook to help move limbs or weapons to allow opportunities. "Sthénos also has an alternate form of a battle ax. I use that as more of a last resort in dire situations.

Finishing up my unpacking remember what Pyro did a little while ago. "My semblance, while not as _lively_ as Pyro's, is quite efficient. I use the kinetic damage I inflict upon enemies to help strengthen my aura from physical attacks."

I turn back to clean my armor and weapons."Plant girl, claw boy, decide which of you wishes to go next." I say getting out a whetstone for my blades.

 **Ceder's P.O.V.**

"Minos you'll have to show me that acorn I want to know what kind it is. I guess I'll introduce myself now. My name is Ceder Boom and I'm 17 years old." I say as I take out my bow. "This my dear friends is Carla, yes I just made that up and yes I'm going to stick with it." I smile while holding out the newly named 'carla' "She's a hybrid bow made out of metal and hardwood that changes into two okinawan tonfas though I prefer her bow version" I finish and put back Carla.

"If it wasn't clear yet my semblance is flying..." I say leaving my team dumbstruck. "Pfff hahahahaaa you guys should've seen your faces I'm kidding my semblance is understanding and moving nature, though only plants and trees I mean. You shouldn't expect me to have an army of trees move constant though, it costs a lot of energy to do what I did in the forest. I'm fro- uahh," I yawn "I'm from an area in the forests near the border where grimm are more common, since I was 9, in a simple wood cabin with my brother and uncle."

"I think that's about all the interesting information you'll get from me though." I mumble tiredly as I take a glance at the picture frame now standing next to my bed facing my bed "I'm pretty tired. Come on Rex, it's your turn to introduce yourself."

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

Twiddling his fingers, Rex flinched nervously, briefly muttering, "Heh? Oh, right… right…" He managed a smile, half closing an eye as he struggled to maintain that composure, asking, "Is it my turn already?" Silence greeted his question. "Alright, alright, so it is…"

Rex patted down his chest, his other hand lowering to his side, taking a deep breath as he thought to himself, _Come on, hardly the sort of image you're trying to convey._ Rex readjusted the front of his shirt, briefly catching hold of the bullet-proof vest pressed against his skin. _Eh, so I still have that on? Heh, how embarrassing…_

Rex managed to straighten his composure, twitching as he said, "Well, heh heh... I suppose you all know me as Rex… last name is Regium… I've been called Azraq a few times before, so, I guess you could say that's a sort of nickname for me." Rex's gaze shifted away from the others, his hands clasped and his fingers overlapping. "I… I'm at the happy little age of seventeen… I have a sister, and my parents are pretty nice people…"

Ageis groaned, slumping from his standing position and onto the side of his bed, his dull eyes focused on Rex. "Boring… how about it if you tell us about your weapons and aura instead?" His eyes lit up, a mild grin stretching across his face.

Rex flinched. _Ok… ok…_ His hands releasing their grasps on each other, they fell to his sides and behind his back, clutching each other as Rex's gaze shifted back at the three, turning momentarily solemn, before flickering away. "Well, I have two gauntlets in my possession… a small heirloom pair that's only existed in my family for the preceding two generations." Rex's eyes lit up, turning to face the others as he exclaimed, "Oh! The insides of the gauntlets actually have these engravings, right, that were carved in there by my mother's father, right, who would use the gauntlets, and when the fateful day came when the gauntlets broke, he would bring them to who would become my grandmother, an apprentice weaponsmith, right? Anyway, the engravings read, once the gauntlets are disassembled and placed in a sort of order… eh…" Rex stepped back, his fingers tapping his hands as his gaze grew frantic, just barely focusing on the trio before him. "...well… anyway, the gauntlets were assembled in this sort of order that weaponsmiths have them in, which I guess my grandfather knew about since he was dating one such weaponsmith at the time…" Rex shifted his gaze, blushing mildly, his eyes softening as his tapping began to cease. "...and when she disassembled the gauntlets and spread them out, the engravings read as, _Will you marry-?_ " Rex seemed to chuckle, smiling as he said, "Apparently, there wasn't enough room for my grandfather to include: _Will you marry me, Edith?_ So…" He shrugged, shoulders slumping. "...he just left it at that, betting on the hope that it would be enough to get him a wife. And… well…"

His timid gaze observed the trio before him. Though Ceder, and Minos oddly enough to a certain extent, seemed to be entrapped within the love life of Rex's maternal grandparents, their eyes lit at the very mention of love, Ageis's gaze focused on Rex with that same blank stare as he asked, "Right, right… what do your weapons do?"

"Heh?" Rex fidgeted nervously, saying, "Well, I mean, the gauntlets have claws and external shotgun barrels with an internal firing mechanism…" Rex's composure seemed to straighten as scratched the side of his neck, continuing, "...and I suppose they're pretty reliable in close range. Easy to use, and difficult to miss, though they're not that useful at further distances… and, sadly, I'm not athletic enough to move far distances at fast speeds, so most opponents could easily evade me…" Rex blinked, lighting up as he said, "Ah! But that's ok! I don't have to be the fastest, nor the most maneuverable; not so long as my aura exists, I suppose…"

His hands released each other, Rex's smile widening a bit as he said, "Though I'm not strong enough to physically take on the damage necessary to make my sacrifice be worth it… admittedly, leaving me without many uses, eh heh… my aura, at least, can overcome this problem. A shield, for your everyday defense needs. So long as I can keep the shield up… admittedly, not for long… I can theoretically block whatever comes at me." Rex cocked his head, that smile remaining, the previous traces of unease seemingly vanished. "I can't say that I'm that useful, all around… but if nothing else, I have this." His hands seemed to twitch, coming close and clasping each other once more. "That's… that's my introduction, heh heh."

 **Ceder's P.O.V.**

"After hearing that tragically beautiful love story I have to ask you rex, did they get married?" I ask wipe away a tear "And Minos… what sort of acorn is it? WAIT let me guess, is it a White Oak acorn? Or perhaps a Swamp White Oak." I say out loud at first and slowly talk to myself more.

"It s an acorn from a Gambel Oak tree" Minos answered.

"Good to know you're a Gambel lover" I smile as I stand up "Was that ice cream debate from earlier an offer for free ice cream or just to start a conversation Ageis?" I lick my lips thinking of ice cream.

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

Though the streetlight managed to maintain a steady stream of light cast over the street, its state of disrepair remained just as consistent, leaving the light disabled for minutes on end. As Rex waited outside one building of many in this desolate street, he leaned against the wall of that same building, a marvelous server of frozen treats and delectables, his eyes half shut as they remained locked onto that same disabled streetlight as it spurred into life. The street, deserted as it is, might have proved to be much busier earlier in the day, in accordance with the odd few scattered clippings of a newspaper from across the street, torn wrapping paper and empty pill bottles scattered across the ground; belonging to the pharmacy down the street, and nearly faded tire marks strewn across the road, vanishing on the morrow. As it stood, with the moon long-since having begun its ascent, most of the stores remained closed and without light… save for the store behind Rex.

The streetlight flickered once more, the light vanishing and replaced by darkness. Rex turned his attention from the streetlight, looking to the store's window to his right alongside the wall, watching as light streamed out alongside with what almost appeared to be a shadow puppet theater, made with the shadows of the fellows standing within the premise. Of course, with the wild movements being depicted, "standing" might be an understatement, better replaced by "acting under the introverted possession of chaos manifest." Rex's gaze maintained its half-shut, tired nature, watching as a large shadow seemed to display a show of power, the other two images appearing to clap in response. The shadows, broadcasted by the inside light, strewn themselves over the buildings on the other side of the street.

"Ah… it's always nice, pleasant even, to see such joy, illustrated by the most simple of actions." A shift, transition, and the voice continued, focusing on Rex, "I hope you know that it's not them I'm referring to."

Rex blinked, glancing to his left, spotting the figure leaning against the streetlight this side of the street. The shadows continued to dance across the building standing behind the darkened street light as the light reawakened, dispersing the shadows and overcasting Rex and this other figure. This newcomer leaned against the streetlight with a smile across her face, those eyes of hers dim, but still captivated, even with the vanishment of the "theater."

Rex nearly spoke, his lips parting, his eyes blinking once. The figure, of which had been so close to him, vanished with the opening of his eyes. His gaze remained locked onto the streetlight of which the figure had been leaning against, even as the alternate streetlight flickered once, terminating permanently this time, and the shadows of the inside figures found themselves across the buildings once more.

Rex might have made the effort to act shocked, but of course, that would require him to _be_ shocked, and he isn't. His gaze remained locked on the streetlight on his side of the street, that same gaze turning dull. He blinked once more, this time finding himself staring at the shadows dancing against the building, the light that strung these shadows up beginning to shift, the shadows distorting. The shapes grew unrecognizable, Rex's eyes blinking, his breath catching, the lights shifting, eyes widening, the lights spontaneous, the shadows unrecognizable...

A ringing of a bell, a swinging of a door, and the young, preppy girl strode out the store, her right arm thrust out before her as the door swung outward and she took a step out, a bright smile on her face. Ceder caught the door as it swung back into place, glancing to the right, down the street, and then to the left, her smile widening as she caught sight of Rex, calling out, "Ah hah!" She snapped to a fighting pose of which might annoy most, failing to annoy only the outliers on the most extreme of the spectrum. "It looks like you've made the mistake of chickening out when that big brute decided to challenge us to a starter battle! Here, in a place with lots of exits, I know you won't escape!"

Waiting for a response, Ceder blinked in confusion, straightening her composure and cocking her head, asking, "Huh? What's this now, some lame attempt at trying to hide?" She placed her hands on her hips, smiling confidently as she maintained this near-arrogant pose, exclaiming, "Such tactics won't work on me!"

Rex's gaze turned away from the opposing building, instead looking up at Ceder as he thought to himself. _Huh… I don't remember taking a seat._ Rex's arms held onto his knees whilst his gaze focuses on the girl standing beside the store, saying, "Oh… I…" Rex raised a hand, pressing against the wall, allowing Rex to pull himself up onto unsteady feet, glancing in Ceder's direction, eyes narrowing in confusion. "Wait, what am I being accused of?"

Ceder crossed her arms, her smile remaining. "Nothing in particular…"

"So, I'm allowed to stay outside?"

Ceder finished, her eyes half-closed, "...provided that you head inside.'

Frowning, Rex glanced down the length of the street, his line of sight brushing against Ceder's gaze, captivated by the light existing outside the immediate area. Rex returned his attention to Ceder, his shoulders shrugging as he asked, "Can't I just stay out here, and provide my political partner with a much-needed tactical analysis? That way, I'd still be participating…" _...even if I_ am _only saying this just to stay out here and nothing else._

Ceder briefly considered this, momentarily adjusting her positioning to compensate. After a few moments of thought, she arrived to an acceptable conclusion, winked and said, "Well, since we're on opposing sides in our grand war, then why don't I also stay out here, and provide tactical analysis for my side as well?"

 _Well… I mean… can you not?_ Rex managed a nervous smile. "If I recall correctly, isn't the reason we're here because of your desire for…" A moment of hesitation as Rex flinched. "...ice cream? Wouldn't you be missing out the most out of all of us?" _Even if it_ is _just ice cream._

Ceder cocked her head to the side in thought, taking a step back, turning her body to face across the street, leaving Rex to face her from her side. Her eyes flickered, momentarily distracted, the streetlight flickering. Rex observed that persistent smile across her face, nearly taken aback by the time she started speaking. "It's not really a matter of what specific food I happen to desire that's drawing me here…" She whirled her body around, hands clasped behind her back as she grinned, continuing, "...though don't get me wrong, an excuse to get food is hardly something that can be turned down. Rather…" She leaned forward, asking, "Don't you think this situation is rather ideal?"

Rex blinked, nearly stepping back. "Heh?"

"Well, I mean, here we are, four people that have never met before today, now asked to live together for the next four years." Ceder giggled, straightening her back a bit as she said, "A terrifying ordeal, to be sure, but at the same time, it's kind of a wonderful thing." Her smile seemed to grow warmer, her eyes basking in flickering light. "I love my family, as I'm sure you love yours…" Rex stared back, oblivious to the dark. "...but everything changes, and sometimes it's for the worse. No one truly likes change, after all. But alas, that doesn't stop change. It's an endless cycle, with varying revolutions in its wake. But, if it's inevitable… and if it isn't always necessarily a bad thing…"

Ceder's eyes shifted, not towards the shadows across the street, but towards the two fellows within the store, Rex following her gaze, his eyes lighting up against whilst Ceder finishes, "...then don't we owe it to ourselves, to make the absolute best of it?"

Rex watched the scuffle unfurl within the store. Though the context remained lost within the eyes of Rex, he briefly considered the alternative to this. He could be sitting in his room, holding tight to his only possessions. He could, perhaps, have not arrived at this school at all.

This entire moment might not have occurred, without any form of meaningful interaction prior.

Ceder continued to speak. "See… Rex… I don't know much about you. Nor much about Ageis, nor Minos. But that's alright, because now is a good time to start, now isn't it?" Rex considered shifting his gaze, but found himself focused on the duo inside. Not for any reason he could immediately think of, as this brawl, resulting in the sleep-deprived employee to stand beside without much of a fuss, appeared to not serve much of a logical connotation to whatever they might have been arguing about… though perhaps Rex simply wanted to continue staring to avoid facing Ceder, though this too, appeared irrational.

Ceder's own gaze remained focused on Rex, unwavering as she said, "Let's make this change a good one." Her lips curved upwards once more, the streetlight flickering across the street, engulfing into darkness.

 **Looks like i was wrong… again. Look, i won't try and make predictions next time, i will just write and hope i can fit it in.**


	10. first morning

**This one might be the first day, but I promise nothing.**

 **Ageis' P.O.V**

I was woken by a truly terrible noise, it sounded like an Ursa gargling chainsaws. It was shaking, no, bellowing… no, it was… it was, _thundering_ I turned my eyes to the first culprit that could come to mind, but the horned behemoth was busy shoving a pillow over his face and ears to muffle the noise, caring little that his horns were poking through the pillow.

I looked to the only other male in our room and he was sleeping softly, like, weirdly asleep. I grimaced and glanced to the Arborkinetic beauty. Her mouth was wide open, her chest rising and falling in time with the assault on my eardrums. I let my body fall back onto the bed as I pulled my Scroll from the bedside table.

"It just had to be the hot one… *sigh*" I muttered to myself. The time on the scroll was several hours before class started, but I was already awake. I made my way to the restroom to begin my daily routine.

 **MINOS' P.O.V**

"First thing on my list for the afternoon is industrial noise canceling earplugs, as well as a new pillow." I say finally sitting up and removing the ruined thing from my horns. I take a glance at my alarm clock. "Not bad, only a few minutes before my alarm." I mumble to myself before pressing the 'Cancel' button on the machine I have mixed feelings with.

I get busy preparing myself for the day ahead. I go to put on my armor before realizing that the stern woman came by and informed us that it is mandatory for any and all battle gear to be locked in our battle lockers, and that for comfort sake, we only wear armor and the like in combat class. I would feel a bit more comfortable if I were impervious to most forms of attacks.

"Oh well, one must adhere to the rules." I grumble to myself as I start to get dressed. Thank whoever it was that these are button ups. I'm almost done when I see the final piece. "Screw the rules." I say ripping that monstrous thing in half and leaving it at the wall.

I faintly hear the water running in the bathroom and wonder who it is. A quick glance at the beds make who it is obvious. "Hmmm, Pyro must be more punctual than I thought, though I should probably wake our..." The word having a bit of trouble in my mouth. "Team."

This will take a bit of getting used to.

I walk over to the lightswitch knowing full well the consequences. Sacrifices must be made, but at least the snoring will stop. With a flick of a switch the room is bathed in a glorious light, though the two sleepers do not see it that way.

The results are instantaneous. The remaining two in bed tried valiantly to cover their eyes from the luminescence. "It is time to wake up you two, this is the first day of classes and I refuse to have our team embarassed by two lollygaggers." I say walking over to open the blinds, there is no room for mercy.

"Besides, I want to get food before classes start." A bemused Pyro said finally stepping out of the bathroom.

Rex, the seemingly better of the two when mornings are involved, made his way groggily into the bathroom with his uniform under his arm and slammed the door behind him.

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

The oddities surrounding the bathroom's design fascinated Rex. _There are four sinks…_ The scrutinizing student glanced to his left. _...yet three showers._ Flinching instinctively, Rex muttered as he tightened his hold on his folded uniform, "Never mind the fact that there's never going to be a moment where all four of us plan on using this room at the same time, thus rendering the functionality of the sinks somewhat irrelevant…" Rex flinched once more. "...why might there be a lesser number of shower cubicles?" _Aren't we sharing a room with a girl as well?_ Rex managed a weak, exasperated attempt at laughter, his body slumping over and turning to the side in despair as he murmured with a bleak look in his eyes, "There's not a doubt in my mind that even with the curious amount of bathroom appliances, however unbalanced, the gal will surely claim her conquest of half the room as might any tyrannical dictator, provided that stereotypes are a valid indicator of-"

Rex jolted fully-awake, glancing around in a frenzied state. His worst fears confirmed, he fell to his knees in shock, eyes wide as he allowed his uniform fall softly onto the floor, a hand clamped over his mouth as he said to himself in a hushed, frantic tone, " _This bathroom has no bathtubs."_

Rex collapsed onto the floor, his eyes still wide, arms lying by his side, a shimmer in his eyes as what appeared to be the initial onslaught of tears began to fall. He murmured softly, "How am I supposed to relax? To deal with the stresses of my day? This… this isn't fair." Rex brought a hand up to his tear-struck face, obscuring his sorrow as his muffled voice said, " _This isn't fair…_ " Rex fell into a depressive state, as might any other in such a heart wrenching scenario.

The clatter of the rattling doorknob sent a wave of distress through Rex as he opened the door, dressed in this restrictive uniform, tears long-since wiped clean, stepping out the bathroom and into the bedroom, grumbling to himself as he pulled at the uniform's choking neck segment, "Did I accidentally get one a size or two smaller than my build?" _Did I say build?_ Rex slumped unhappily at this thought. _I meant standard size-small._

 **Ceder's P.O.V.**

" _We must go now Miss Boom it's time" "Time for what?" "Time for you to wake up"_ I hear before a thousand suns burn away my eyes and I wake up. After my eyes finally adjusted I got up to put on my uniform. After rex walked out of the bathroom I went in brushed my teeth and put on my uniform.

"Are you guys ready for classes?" I ask the guys after I come out of the bathroom. "You know classes won't be starting for a couple of hours right?" Minos says in return. "But… then… why did you wake me?" I ask confused and regretful of waking up."I had a very nice dream about the trees we met yesterday."

Ageis pulls out his scroll and presses a button, the sound that came out was a thundering roar of some great beast, "what kind of grimm made that sound" I question, all eyes focus on me."What?" I wonder. "Have you ever eaten an ursa?" Ageis asked in return "Not that I know why… oh… OH I thought I said that I'm a light snorer" "LIGHT?! YOU CALL THAT LIGHT?!" was all I got in return.

"If you think I'm loud you should hear my uncle that gigantic ursa from the forest has nothing on him" was all I could answer before an orchestra of laughter erupted.

"So for waking me up this early you have to make me an apple pie I don't care when though preferably this week"

 **A couple hours of useless chatter about food later**

"Guys come on we woke up so early how come we're running late out of nowhere" I yell at the guys running after me to class. "Well if SOMEONE didn't start a debate about olive oil, then MAYBE we wouldn't be having trouble right now" Minos yelled back in response. "Hey I'm just saying to have respect for that magnificent gooey stuff" Ageis returned.

"It doesn't matter! Just hurry up" Rex said getting frustrated again due to the rest of us going on and on about olive oil. "Here it is" **name** pointed out as we came to a standstill.

 **Ageis' P.O.V.**

I tentatively pushed open the doors to the classroom. The design was a standard ampetheater, and we appeared to be the last team to arrive. The teacher stood at the front of the class, tapping his foot angrily. "Ah, yes. Team ARCN, you are approximately forty six minutes late, please take your seats and i will continue with today's lesson".

His accented voice was almost at an unitelligable speed and keeping focus was hard enough for me. I looked at the last open section and saw an extra chair, seeing this brought a solution to the hyperactive teacher to mind. "Umm, professo_" "Doctor" he interrupted. "Doctor Oobleck, may i use my semblance for assistance in studying?"

He raised a verdant eyebrow, "and how, Mr. Pyro, would your semblance help? A demonstration is necessary." I pressed my hand together and let my aura flare, the other members of the class let out oos and ahs at my display until i stepped back and let Ageti take form. He bowed to the teacher and spoke, "two heads are better than one when studying, surely."

"I will allow use of this semblance if it is only used for academic purposes, please take your seats". My team accompanied me up the stairs as did the eyes of our fellow classmates. We took our seats and the professor began.

My hunch was correct, he moved as fast as his mouth did. I scribbled out notes while Ageti kept a keen eye on the emerald flash of our teacher. Every so often, the thoughts i was receiving changed from remnant history to the, erm, _assets_ of our female member and i stomped on his foot. History was never my strong suit and having hundreds of years of it compacted into seconds was never easy.

After what seemed like centuries, the bell rang and we were dismissed from the verbal shit-storm that was Oobleck. After gathering our things and heading into a hall, i pulled out my scroll and checked the schedule. "next is Grimm studies with Mr. Port" i looked at my team and found two of them glaring at me.

Ceder covered her chest with her books and Minos was giving me a death glare. "It wasn't me! It was Ageti." I spouted, trying to redeem myself in the eyes of my partner and female team member. "Different person, but still your eyes Pyro" Minos grumbled as we kept walking.

We made it to the next class in time and found that the room was identical to the last one. We took our seats, Ageti having dissipated after the last class and watched our, erm… Port-ly teacher enter the room. "Welcome class to Grimm studies, i am Professor Port. Most of you should have acquainted yourselves with each other, so no other introductions are necessary."

The professor took a piece of chalk and began sketching a few basic Grimm on the board. "Now, having survived the forest, many of you should be familiar with these Grimm. Beowolves, Ursas, and Boarbatusks" he finished the intricate drawings and then erased them. "These Grimm are not all the same though, the most ancient among them gain titles such as Ursa Major and Alpha Beowolf. However unlikely, have any of you seen these unique grimm?"

My entire team raised their hands and the rest of the class gawked at us, even Port raised a bulky eyebrow. "We killed one during initiation" i stated, Port let out a guffaw and spoke "i can understand the want to be popular, but warping stories is hardly necessary, my guess is that it was simply a large Ursa"

A displeased expression crossed my face, "with respect mr. port, why did you ask the question if you were sure that no one could have answered it?" Both of the grey bushes that hid his eyes raised and he let out a very muffled guffaw. "Incredible deduction lad, i will ask mrs. goodwitch later to see the footage of the initiation and see if your claim holds ground mr…?"

"Pyro" i said, "Ageis Pyro", years of using that introduction had it run like clockwork. This, however, had Port baffled, "Pyro? As in Arcus Pyro?" He muttered out. I nodded "I'm his son" Ports brows furrowed. "Well, that… that's enough introduction, back to class. Now, while most grimm are land based, certain grimm have evolved…"

The rest of the class consisted of long winded stories from his youth, painfully stupid comments from Argent Smith and the rest of his team of pricks, and me still trying to get my subconscious off of my teammates chest.

Once the bell rung (and stopped Port in the middle of his hyperbolous tale), we left and Ceder turned to me. "Who's this Arcus Pyro?" I raised a brow and restated what i had said in class. "I said, he is my_" "Yeah yeah but like why does Port know your dad?" I grimaced, i really never liked talking about how amazing my dad was, he always said it was impolite to brag.

"He is a Colonel in the Atlas military, though he usually goes by the moniker of Archangel, the Archangel of Atlas. Port was probably confused as to why i am going to Beacon instead of Atlas. My dad didn't want me to turn into an Atlas stooge like the elder Schnee sister."

"So he's important… sounds complicated, I feel sorry for you" i laughed, "Don't be, despite his rank, he is the most chill and laid back person i know, he can get a bit riled up though." After this, nothing more was said on the topic.

The next class for the day was Combat with Goodwitch, and from the stories the upperclassmen threw around, she definitely earned the second half of her name. The class required us to don our combat attire, so we stopped at the lockers to change.

 **Rex's P.O.V.**

Examining the light armor strapped to his chest and the heavier armor strapped to his bare arms, of which were no longer concealed by uniform, Rex couldn't help but question the redundancy of bringing bulletproof armor with him for this academy. Frowning, a light groan escaping Rex's lips, he muttered to himself, "I don't suppose the folks back home will be all-too happy about this… eh heh, should I send the armor back to them?" _After all, it might come across as disrespectful to the school's advisors if I fail to wear the armor they gave me… of… which… actually, fits me well. Wait, no, hold on, what?_ Rex stumbled back, ignoring the other fellows in the locker room as he spread his arms and looked down in shock. _How the hell did they guess my exact measurements!? I don't remember filling out any forms!_ Rex's eyes widened in panic, his hands clasping over the sides of his head as he thought, _Did they, perhaps, sneak into our rooms in the middle of the night… and perform their vile acts at that time!?_ Rex swung his body around, his fist swinging into a locker while his other fist opened up into a palm, slamming against the locker as his head slumped forward, looking towards the ground, eyes wincing, lips pulled back. "How could they… we trusted them… and they pay us back, _with this perversion!?_ "

Naturally, everyone else ignored the blabbering fellow as they changed without concern. Neither Ageis nor Minos were in the immediate area, and thus, that left only one exception to this majority: a single being that watched Rex with an irritated expression.

Rex swung his body around before his locker, his fingers brushing against the open panel and swinging it shut, slowly easing back into the bench behind him, his eyes expressing a hazy sense of fatigue. _Come to think of it, the only thing I filled out on the forms was my name, before handing it off to my parents, eh? Eh heh… eh… heh…_ Rex sighed, his voice weary from this fit of panic. "Maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable…" His eyes flickered, glancing in the direction of the other students.

Or rather, the lack thereof. The locker room appeared empty, with only the presence of Rex and the consistent drone of the overhead lighting to suggest any signs of life, though of course, only one of these variables might be considered living.

Rex stood up, hands at the ready, his left eye flinching. "Hold on, I didn't really just waste all this time doing nothing, did I?" _Crap, that's exactly what I did._ Rex managed a weak smile, eyes threatening to shut. "Heh heh, I finish changing before everyone else but it is I that must leave the locker room the last." He began to walk in the direction of the locker room's exit, his expression remaining unchanged, his posture gradually slumping. It is only as he neared the exit, that he noticed the fellow that stood before him, this figure's arms crossed across his chest.

Rex stopped walking, appearing to raise a hand, his eyes widening from their near-closed state. "Eh hem… pardon me, but it appears that you're in my way…" The figure did not move, or else, the fellow did not seem to hear him. Rex twitched at this, sidestepping to move around the living obstacle, only to find the figure shift gradually before him.

Rex's eyes seemed to sadden in confusion. "Are you… trying to get in?"

The figure tsked, his glistening teeth underlying the upturned lips, lips upturned in anger. Otherwise, the figure did not respond, serving as little more than an uptight obstacle, akin to that of a kettle capped to withstand the heat, though Rex silently prayed that this fellow might decide not to whistle in kind.

As no further progress could be made, Rex frowned, examining the fellow before him. Though common sense dictated that this teenage boy should be wearing armor, he wore little more than a black long-sleeve soft shirt, of which was tucked in by equally long gray leggings of similar material, though a distinct visual texture gave it a rougher exterior. With curious shoes of a brighter gray than his pants, the brightest part about this character, he is left with messy red hair and black eyes. A near-scrawny fellow that Rex might have mistaken for younger than him if not for the age limit of the school, nor the fact that the kid is just as tall as him; without much strength in most subjects, height is a topic that Rex happened to take pride in, and after a glance at this character, his eyes narrowed whilst his cheeks began to flush out of territorial dispute.

It was then, that a _clink-clink_ of two metal objects caught Rex's attention as the kid's arm lifted up to brush aside his red hair. A pair of dice, linked at the cuff, of red and black colors fit to match the kid's description. They continued to dangle until the kid lowered his hand down to return it to its position, clasped alongside his other arm.

The kid's eyes narrowed in anger as he said, "You… to think that you're someone that might actually have the audacity to serve as an enemy… someone worth killing..."

Rex stifled a growl at this. _Hey, your height is definitely impressive, but in this war of ours, neither flattery nor insults will do to keep me from victory... is what I want to say, but I won't. Because, see, I'm a rational human being._

Rex's shoulders slumped, a sigh escaping his lips as he said, "To be fair, the only person here forcing this conversation is you."

"I see you've decided to talk back; how disgusting."

It was at this point that Rex failed to suppress his own irritation. _The hell? I have no idea who this guy is, and already I'm being insulted. Actually, it's been about, what, one full day since initiation? This seems par for the course, really._ Rex shrugged, a nervous smile on his lips. "Am I allowed to leave? No offense or anything, but oddly enough, I don't like being called disgusting."

The kid's eyes narrowed without hesitation. "No, you are not allowed to leave, you rotten human being, you useless trash."

 _Eh heh, fuck, wow, ok. I was not expecting this. He hates me but he wants me to stay!? Actually, the way he's taken command of the conversation is somewhat unnerving…_ Rex began to chuckle, most definitely on edge. "You know what, forget I said anything about insults. Let's be friends!"

"No, you mindless insect."

"If I stay, are you going to insult me again?"

"Yes, you flimsy excuse for a person."

"Actually, no, I don't particularly like this at all. Aren't both our grades going to be impacted if you continue to block my way?"

"Yes, you masochistic slave."

"Did you plan for this to happen?"

"No, that was an afterthought in the grand scheme of things, you fucking dumbass."

Rex flinched. "You're here… hurling insults at someone you've never met before… potentially ruining our chances at a good first impression with the teacher… and this doesn't come across as idiotic?" Slowly, Rex's posture began to straighten, the threat of the figure before him diminishing.

"On the contrary, idiot, this is most certainly an idiotic plan on my part, you twat." The kid moved, whipping his hand before him as if to gesture a sort of dismissal. "I have examined my behavior and decided that this course of action profits no one, least of all myself, and thus I shall be sparing you, not because of any action done on your part, but because of my sheer capacity for mercy…" With that, the kid whipped around and began to walk down the stretch leading away from the locker room, leaving the exit open for Rex to pass through, his eyes narrowing almost in sadness whilst muttering, "...you disgrace for an enemy."

Rex remained standing for a time, torn between labeling this event a moment of clarity, a divine message from a higher force… or else a moment so spontaneous, luck could be the only factor involved.

Stepping into the open classroom, the first details Rex noticed are the design choices. More an arena than a classroom, with a stand to support perhaps a performing band of musicians… or perhaps something more savage… with an overarching flat-screen television, of which displayed a list of names, though the screen itself currently rested too far away for Rex to read the names. It was as Rex moved throughout the room, ignoring the clusters and crowds of students, that he spotted one particular hand waving him over. Frowning, he moved in the direction of the waving hand, expecting to see the only group that might recognize him as something more than a random face in the room. Groaning expectantly, Rex stepped through the thicket of students, and into a small open space in which only two fellows resided within.

Cedar continued to wave her hand, though now with Rex having come into view, her smile widened, bursting with joy that Rex might expect from someone of her evident personality. Rex's frown quietly vanished, a small smile taking its place as he thought, _Energetic and genuinely happy to greet those she knows… how nice…_ The scene from last night flickered through Rex's mind, though it vanished quickly as Rex shrugged it off, taking a deep breath as he stepped towards Cedar and Minos, the last of which is fumbling around with his cellular device, displaying the names on the larger screen.

A quick glance from Rex as he stepped up to the pair left him with the obvious question of, "Ah dear, where might have Ageis gone?"

Cedar giggled sheepishly, pointing off to one of the larger crowds. "Seems that having the right parents can do wonders for a teenage boy, even if none of them actually know him yet; half the crowd are guys that hope to _be_ like him, and the other half are gals that _want_ him."

"Eh…" Rex stared at the crowd with a gaze laced with skepticism. "Isn't he homeschooled? Is he even prepared to take on such a pride of bloodthirsty lions?"

Cedar cocked her head in confusion, a finger pressed against her lip. "What are lions?"

"I… have… no idea, actually-" Before Rex could continue, an elated cheer came from the massive brute beside them, his eyes lighting up with joy as he began to say, "AH HAH! It's about to start!"

Rex managed to force a laugh, his body swaying as he took a step towards Minos, swivelling to look around his shoulder. "And what might it be that's about to start? Please, someone, anyone, give this clueless fella some details."

Minos growled happily with that same joy as his eyes began to widen, "Our sparring partners are about to be chosen today, and the first matches start within seconds of the first pair of contestants being chosen!" He swung his head around to face Rex, of which suppressed the need to recoil back though his expression displayed his lack of comfort, whilst Minos's eyes gleamed with fascination; with passion, even. "Any second now… eh heh heh! We'll get the chance to beat the living crap out of each other! Isn't this wonderful!? Entertaining!? Worthy of excitement!?"

 _I have to fight someone? Eh heh… I'd rather sit this one out._ Rex failed to match Minos's excitement, though that didn't keep the big fella from looking back at his phone with anticipation as the list of names began to blink in rapid succession, and the names began to spin.

Cedar stepped up to the pair, focusing on Rex as she asked with a sort of half-smile, "Anyway, what was it that kept you so long?"

Rex glanced back at Cedar with that same bored expression. "Some jerk… no… some _lunatic_ blocked my path and wouldn't let me back in." Rex shrugged, seemingly with a tinge of regret. "I must be famous too, for him to keep going on about being my opponent." _Nevermind the fact that my mind drifted off for so long in the first place…_ Rex managed a weak smile as he turned his gaze towards Minos's screen, going on to say, "It doesn't really matter, I guess." His smile began to curve further upward, turning almost into a distasteful smirk, as the screen continued to blink and the names cycled faster, separating into two categories: the two combatants. "I mean, the odds of the two of us getting placed against each other..."

 _Ping!_ The first name rolled to a stop, and the student's image filled half the screen.

"...are… what? One in a million? No…"

 _Ping!_

…

A silence overtook the classroom as the screen lit up with the two images of both combatants… though Rex failed to notice, his eyes displaying a level of displeasure as he opened his mouth once more.

"...there's not even a chance at all."

...

Rex's gaze lifted, focusing on the larger screen overlooking the arena… his eyes blinking once… his eyes slowly widening in shock.

...

 _Rex Regium vs. Wurfel Alea_

…

With his gaze focused solely on the two images, Rex's smile and eyes began to widen further, unable to comprehend the absurd nature of the events taking place before him. _Hold on… no… wait…_

…

 _How… how does this…?_ Rex's eyes began to act erratically, darting in every direction, his smile vanishing as his gaze locked onto Wurfel's image, the image of one scrawny red haired, black eyed boy. _No… no way… but he… he came up to me… "You… to think that you're someone that might actually have the audacity to serve as an enemy… someone worth killing..."_ Rex's hands began to shake, slowly rising up to both sides of his head as he began to tighten his grip, clutching hard. _How did he know? How did he know? HOW DID HE KNOW!? HOW DID HE PREDICT THIS!? HOW COULD HE HAVE POSSIBLY PREDICTED THIS!? FUCK! I CAN'T DO THIS! I CAN'T! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!? NO! HOW DID HE KNOW!?_ Rex shut his eyes, his teeth gritting as he suppressed a sob-

 _Clink… clink…_

A clattering of dice.

 _Step… step…_

Rex's eyes snapped open. He lowered his hands, his fingers unable to stop shaking. With wide eyes on the verge of tears, he felt a push on his back; multiple hands to guide him forward. _No… calm down… calm down… I'm overreacting. He just guessed, and he was lucky; there's nothing sinister behind that. Just luck… just luck…_

 _Clink… clink…_

 _...just… luck…_

 _Step. Step._

Rex seemed to sway, his eyes transfixed as he stood atop the platform, his eyes locked onto the opponent across from him. Wurfel stood without expression, with only his eyes betraying his hidden intentions: the eyes of a boy with contempt for the trash standing before him, the eyes of a man without remorse.

The eyes of a killer… seeking to do what it does best.

Rex might have gulped, might have gasped, might have turned around to run, had the room not been so awfully quiet. He might have expected at least a single mention of murmuring, or perhaps disappointment for a lack of any ideal fighting candidate… and yet, not a single voice was uttered.

 _Am I… so in shock, that I can't even use my senses properly? My joints… are stiff. My vision… is blurry. My tongue feels as if it's been electrified, and the only thing I smell is the stench of death… mine own… ok, no, no, this isn't right. This is just a school. No one is supposed to die here, eh heh, that would be the case if this weren't a school for Hunters and Huntresses… eh heh, eh heh, eh heh, eh heh heh heh…_

 _..._

 _...not even my laughter… has a sound of its own._

Rex blinked, unable to make out the figures of anyone watching the two combatants. For that matter, it appeared as if the surrounding area had been engulfed in darkness, with not even the platform beneath the two appearing visible, though both Rex and Wurfel appeared to be unaffected.

Blinking once more, Rex struggled to keep his vision from turning hazy. His gaze focused solely on Wurfel… and after a few moments of watching the fellow before him, it occurred to him in a flash of surprise that Wurfel was trying to say something.

In a cold sweat, Rex strained to make out the words his opponent seemed to be saying… his lips curved into a harsh smile… his eyes mocking…

…

 _...under…_

 _...ground…_

…

 _...under…_

 _...ground…_

…

 _...under…_

 _...neath…_

 _...my…_

 _...blade…_

 _...your…_

 _...throat._

Rex blinked once more, this time as the blackness surrounding the two of them began to dissipate, bursting with color… leaving Rex all alone…

...in the subway tunnels of a long-since forgotten station.

 **Hell of a cliffhanger right? All of you give a round of applause in the reviews for the author who prefers not to be named who finished this chapter off. Until next chapter, bye!**


	11. Unleashed

**New chapter to resolve the cliffhanger, lets see how we do.**

 **Ceder's POV**

As the fight started Rex just stood still for a few moments before going into fetal position. As the other students start to murmur I look at Ageis and Minos for an answer but they look just as confused as I am. "What do you guys think happened to Rex? Will he be alright?" I asked after Rex had gotten taken out of the arena. "He'll be fine" Minos answered "Though it's probably the semblance of that guy or something it's probably safe to assume it's some kind of illusion so be careful if you get paired up to fight with him."

"Well what would be the chance of anybody of our team getting chosen agai-" I stopped mid-sentence as I saw who was paired up next. "... Ageis I think me speaking about it cursed it I'm sorry" I apologised while Ageis got up to fight/spar against this Wulfur guy "no hard feelings, I hope you are rooting for me" Ageis responded.

The moment the fight started it looked like the same thing would happen that happened to Rex when Ageis suddenly went bananas trying to cut this guy to pieces. Immediately Wulfur jumped to the side but looked a bit shocked if you could recognise any sort of emotion from him.

I looked closer and saw his aura, not the silvery grey that it often was, but black. His eyes shone the same color and a empty smile stretched his face. The twin swords were fast, ammunition being fired rhythmically to speed up his strikes. A glance at the monitor showed the strategy was working, his opponent's aura was depleting rapidly. But once in the red, Ageis didn't stop.

A single blow decimated the last of the Aura, but he still didn't stop. A final arcing slash went straight for the neck, attempting to end the fight permanently. Before the blade made contact, Ageis stopped. A purple field surrounded Ageis and he was tossed back, his metal boots sparking on the arena.

"Pyro!" Goodwitch shouted, her riding crop extended. The smile fell from his face, his aura returned to silver, far more dull than before, his eyes faded back to blue-green. His hands were shaking, the split sword fell to the ground. He dropped to his knees and looked horrified at his handiwork.

The opponent was beaten and bruised, his aura flaring to repair the damage. While one eye was black and blue, the other was locked in terror. He fell back and scrambled away. Ageis opened his mouth and nothing but a whimper escaped. "ARCN, take your leader to the headmaster's office, I will take Wulfur to the medical ward."

As soon as Goodwitch told us I jumped from the stands "Ageis are you alright? What happened" he just sat there, eyes empty, arms wrapped around his shoulders. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"It'll be alright let's go to Ozpin for now" I say trying to comfort him. I got no reaction from him. I looked up to see that Minos had joined me to help Ageis up. "Can you carry him out of here so we don't have everybody watching us like hawks"

 **Ageis's P.O.V**

I… I was terrified, my arms were wrapped around myself. I can't believe I did that, my weapon that was my pride and joy I stared at like one would an insect. My muscles ached, the me that… wasn't me forced my body to move in ways it shouldn't have. Sweat coated my brow and i was shivering regardless of the spring heat.

I felt nauseous but when i opened my mouth nothing could come out save for a few shuddering breaths. I stood up, arms still around my torso and i followed my team out of the training room, weapons still on the floor. Try as i may, i couldn't bring myself to walk naturally, instead stumbling like a newborn or my father after out-drinking an entire Atlas security team.

The trip to the elevator was a short one, given the training room's proximity to the center of the campus. The ride though, was unnerving. Minos took up the majority of the elevator, leaving Ceder and i quite snug. I expected my mind to be full of perverse images courtesy of Ageti, but he was as silent as i.

The elevator stopped at the top and we got out, Ozpin was pouring a cup of tea… or coffee i couldn't really tell. He turned to me, his brown eyes shifting to look at the three of us. He picked his cane up from where it leaned on the wall and nodded at Minos. "You two may leave, i can talk to your leader alone" they turned and obliged, Minos not so happy about it.

He turned back to me and took a sip of the mystery beverage. When the mug no longer covered his face, i saw a gentle smile. He sat down behind his large desk and gestured to another chair. I took my seat quickly, the metal cold against my back."I don't believe we have been aptly acquainted with each other, you know me, I Don't know you."

"My name is Ageis_" "I read your file, I know about you, but I don't know you. I saw the footage from the forest and noticed you have an interesting fighting style and an even more interesting semblance." I nodded, releasing the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "My semblance allows me to create a double, what people don't know is that I don't control him, he does."

"So that is what bartholomew was rambling about, I must admit, even I can't keep track of that man. Your application of semblance in an educational environment is exemplary, but I don't think we have time for casual discussion. Now, i heard from mrs. Goodwitch what happened, but i would rather it from you"

He leaned forward and folded his hands. I opened my mouth, the frog had decided to vacate my windpipe and i was able to put together an albeit shaky sentence. "I… when the fight began, Wol… Wulfur fired a dust round at me, i didn't react fast enough and it hit me in the chest. I felt the dust seep into my aura and my mind was bombarded with thoughts"

Ozpin's eyes did not move from mine, a silver brow slightly raised. "Pure paranoia, fear, my mind generated hundreds of conspiracies and worst-case scenarios. It became too much, when i thought i would pass out from overload, my body began to move. The complicated emotions faded into more general feelings, threat, attack, move. I dashed forward, attacking wildly, my moves lost any style or finesse."

Ozpin looked concerned, his eyebrows knitted together, his small smile became a frown. "You should know the story from there" he blinked a couple of times and his grandfather-like tone returned. "Interesting, from what i can tell, you are pretty shaken up by this" i nodded slowly, the anxiety returning.

"You can get past this, if you are anything like your father, you won't let this stop you. When i first met him, he was ragged and forlorn. I asked him what his situation was and he claimed that he had killed a "giant scorpion" with his bare hands and came to the closest sign of civilization. He then went on to Atlas and kicked up a frenzy. If 'like father like son' holds any meaning, you can beat this"

He stood up and i followed suit. "Class is over by now, make your way to the cafeteria, i hear that they have chicken for lunch" he chuckled and patted me on the back. I smiled for what felt like the first time in ages and entered the elevator, prepared for a lengthy ride.

 **Rex's P.O.V**

 _Preventing the decline of one's ability is a matter of mindless repetition; that, or a preconceived notion of experience. In short, kid, the more you fight then the better at fighting you'll be, and the longer you fight for then the more likely you are to recognize your flaws. There's nothing wrong with having flaws, so long as you recognize them._ A curious figure kneels before Rex, patting the kid on the chest with a firm palm belonging to an experienced hand. The slightest glimmer of a smile amidst this bleak emptiness leaves Rex watching with wide bright eyes, lips slightly parted, wrists rotated and fingers curled.

 _So long as you strive to correct them._

Rex's curled fingers brushed against skin and the fabric of clothing for the briefest moment, before twitching within the grasp of a swollen mattress.

With his head facing to his right, eyes fatigued and blackened by bleakness, Rex remained on his back and lying on the medicinal bed, covered by a single thin layer of white sheet cloth. Fingers twitching once more, Rex slowly lifted his arm and weakly, slowly brought his fingers to his lips, from whence the faintest traces of drool had begun to form. Curling his fingers, Rex brushed aside this drool, and with his other arm he struggled to push himself off the bed and finding no success.

Glancing to his left this time, Rex found that his left arm simply lay on its side without projecting any signs of movement. With a flicker of annoyance distorting Rex's gaze, brows furrowing as his shoulder muscles began to contract, he brought up his left arm, staring at the appearingly-disjointed state in which his left hand appeared, almost as if struck by an arthritic seizure.

The pushing of a door, clinging to the side of the metal framing, Rex shuffled out and fell to his right knee, now clinging even more tightly to the frame. The skin on Rex's face distorted as he strained out of the sheer desire to move, but frustrated by this unexpected resistance.

 _Step- thud. Step- thud._ Dragging along the side of the hall, for every step Rex took his other foot would threaten to buckle, thus slamming Rex against the wall each time. Despite this, Rex managed an almost genuine kind-hearted smile, saying albeit quietly, "Pain and I never got along, but hey, maybe next time I won't… erm…" Rex glanced away, eyes narrow as he tsked in irritation. "Crap, what's a funny and not out of place punchline? Um, _maybe next time I won't have to feel like the remains of a gentleman tomato's family as they're being shoved into a blender while he watches_ … ah, let's see, let's see… _maybe next time I won't have the charisma of a dolphin crossbred with a mountain lion_ … actually, no, that sounds stupendously awesome, what am I talking about, I would _love_ to see that-! _Agh!"_

Rex's grip on the wall slipped, though how he managed a handhold on this barren structure is certainly a feat worth celebrating, though Rex will be performing his celebratory event on the floor, in agony. "Ok… pain, back to caress me like a jerk… worth getting that image of the dolphin lion stuck in my head… Imaginary entity that I made up just now!" Rex's body jolted, pointing randomly down the hall aimed at nothing as his gaze followed after, filled with determination and enthusiastic vigor as he proclaimed, "What do you think!? I'm a terrible person and I should just stop? Hah, as if! Bad jokes all around! Heh heh, showed him…" Rex raised an arm, waving left and right for everyone to see, though of course everyone meant no one, not even Rex, of which lay on the floor with his head turned to the side. "Maybe _some_ help?"

"..."

"No one? Really? Come on, not a single person? Guys, guys, what kind of a third-rate school are you running here, _there is a child in need of your help and you are letting him die, his life draining away each and every cruel second!_ "

"..."

Rex allowed his arm to fall to the ground, landing beside the other, curled before him. "I give up. I can't believe this. Not that I'm going to die of course, I totally believe that. Even now, I _still can't believe…_ that the faculty keeps the floor so sparkly clean, I mean _damn_." Rex observed the floor, not even centimeters away from him, with a gaze of admiration. "How do they even do this!? I mean, this place is enormous! Where do they get the supplies, the staff, the _time!?_ I never even knew to consider such a detail, that had once been _meaningless_ to me!" Rex glanced around from his place on the floor. "Is _no one_ going to comment on this!?"

Naturally, no one was there to comment on this fascinating subject.

 _Click click, snap-_ "Ow, please-!" _Snap._

The nurse stepped away from the flashing dials, ignoring the wires and the whimpering Rex as he remained seated atop a bed in the absence of a shirt, the nurse's monotonous gaze observing his slightest movements whilst she began to pull her gloves off, her mask remaining still as stone as if her breath remained nearly microscopic in scope.

Tossing the gloves onto the bed, the nurse muttered somewhat dismissively, "There is nothing wrong with you, do spare me the burden of your presence."

Dumbfounded, Rex pulled himself forward along the side of the bed, a worried expression on his face as he exclaimed in confusion, "Eh? But I was on the verge of death not even a few minutes ago!"

"Your limbs were asleep. Congratulations, you failed to recognize the overarching absence of a threat presented on your life." The nurse glanced away, palm pressed against the mask that covered her chin, her other arm pressed against the side of her body. "Or no, perhaps your very existence proves a threat on your life… in which case, I'm sad to say I must declare you terminally ill."

"My stupidity and inability to acknowledge some damn basic bodily functions has nothing to do with my inevitable death!"

"Aren't you supposed to be fighting big scary creatures?"

"Holy crap, I'm dead." Head down, hands clasped over the back of his head, Rex's expression grew to be shrouded in darkness. The nurse watched him in disgust for a few moments before sighing, turning away and glancing at the machine strapped to Rex, its wires running alongside the ground. The nurse observed the results, her neutral eye catching a glimpse of Rex's heart rate.

"My oh my, it appears as if your heart is beating faster than it should be… though maybe it won't be any loss if you were to explode into a burst of blood… aw, but then I'd have to clean the blood, and practically everything here is colored white…"

Rex stared up at the nurse with a skeptical gaze, saying, "Setting aside your strange preference for enjoying thoughts of my death…" He leaned forward, raising a hand as if to mock whisper. "A very strange preference, by the way." He leaned back, resuming. "...am I supposed to be concerned?"

"Well, surprisingly enough you don't appear to be unhealthy… I know, it's a shock, but there you go… your arteries aren't obstructed by any debris made of fat, and the most physical exercise you've done in recent recordable periods of observation-"

"Ugh, you're trying to say _in the past few minutes_ , just say _in the past few minutes_."

"-has been crawling your way here… like a wounded hound, desperate for escape, you came crawling to my office-"

"I'm sorry, are you even a nurse? Are faculty at this school even _allowed_ to treat their students like this? Wait, _are_ you a nurse!? Who are you!? What have you done to me!?"

"-to which I obliged, relying on all that is pure in my perfectly normal, functioning heart to aid you. Otherwise, you sat there like a pig, acting as if the place belonged to you but no, nothing that would cause such elevated heart rates." The nurse took a step back from the machine, pondering the results. "Curious…"

Rex stared at her in disbelief. "Was _any_ of that necessary!?"

The nurse's eyes seemed to shimmer as she stepped towards the machine and began to fiddle with the monitor's screen, saying as if Rex did not even exist in her reality, "Ah, but a simple solution to this minor predicament can be discovered through understanding that the behavior of this part of the body can be reflective of the results occurring because of a disturbance elsewhere. Let's see… well, arteries are fine, and the fleshy thing that your body might call a brain… ah dear, it appears as if I've stumbled onto a peculiar development."

"Saying it like that doesn't actually calm me down."

"Not saying it like that wouldn't calm you down anyway; you appear to be suffering from severe amounts of stress and anxiety. I'm not sure how you managed this, but congratulations; your heart is going to explode at any moment now… aw, and I'll have to clean up the mess after all… so much white everywhere..."

"Please. Do explain."

The nurse shrugged, pressing against the monitor as she observed the results regarding Rex's brain. "Your mind is currently in a state of unrest and is unable to settle down. The behavior pattern exhibited by your brain is synonymous with that of a trauma victim, though the level of stress exhibited on your body suggests that any form of mental trauma that you're currently being influenced by… should in essence, be powerful enough to melt your brain. Ah, wouldn't that be a sight to see. Not literally, of course, but you'd turn into a broken shell of a living being, your body slumped over on this bed here, doomed to never recover."

"Please. Stop explaining, you're terrifying this young child."

"Mm, well, you're not actually broken of course, neither physically nor mentally. Now, I do not claim to have much interest in either therapy or counseling, but if I had to wager, I'd say that you're currently being kept alive… or rather, you're being kept from self-destructing by mental floodgates. Should these "gates" open, you will likely delve into insanity and suffer an agonizing few moments before ceasing to exist as a conscious being."

"Does _stop_ not mean anything to you!? Stop telling me this!"

Completely ignored, the nurse continued to say, "Though I'd imagine if you were to gently allow for your trauma to resurface… opening the floodgates bit by bit instead of all at once like an idiot… then perhaps you can be saved from a psychological trip into mental instability." The nurse glanced towards Rex. "I recommend seeing a therapist that might help in relieving this mental bomb you have stored in there, though before I send you off, for the sake of making the therapist's job easier I must ask a few questions concerning your mental state prior to this traumatic incident."

"I have every right to refuse you! You've been acting like a total psycho bitch, and bitches don't make for good friends to talk to and share all their secrets with!"

"Oh dear, that wasn't a very logical thing to say. Perhaps your mind has already shattered but before you can become immobile, you wish to target me? My my, I believe someone needs to be sedated and restrained."

"Are you _threatening me!?_ "

"Well, I'm certainly not doing the opposite of that. Yes?"

Rex backed away, getting off the bed while the wire strips snapped off his body, leaving Rex to step back and move into a defensive posture, saying, "Well, I'll have you know that I don't take kindly to threats on my valuable and treasured life." Rex appeared to tap left to right, still facing the nurse, of which remained standing without much of a care nor a change to her posture whilst Rex mimicked a boxer on the defense. "If you go anywhere near me, then I'll… well, I won't do anything, cause that'd put me in a ethical dilemma."

"You're reacting… very oddly to receiving the news that your mind might implode at any moment. Not to say that that in itself isn't abnormal, but I'd have thought that you'd be in a state of despair… now wait… hm…" The nurse crossed her arms, pondering on this thought of hers. She glanced at Rex, proceeding with her earlier intentions.

"Have you ever felt any form of sorrow before?"

"Pff, can't even remember the last time I saw a rainy day."

"Have you ever witnessed an event that imprinted itself onto your mind."

"Nah, unless you're counting the first time I shot a gun. That was edgy enough to be cool." Rex continued to pace in the form of a boxer, his energy unwavering.

"Ok… have you ever lost anyone close to you and were forced to witness their passing?"

"Oh yeah, totally."

"You once had friends and or family members that are now dead?"

"Yep."

The nurse's eyes flickered. "And you don't feel any grief?"

"Well… I mean, it's not that I… see, it's a lot more complicated than that, but… no." Rex blinked at this, and stopped pacing. He blinked a few more times, as if unable to register what he had just said. Looking down into his steady palms, his gaze seemed to gloss over as he muttered, "I… I don't feel sad? Wait, no, hold on, that's silly, that's really silly, I can't possibly _not_ be sad over that, I mean, I mean, hold on, no, no, no, I… I… _I grieved for days, weeks, months, years, I'M STILL GRIEVING…_ but now…"

The nurse observed the boy before her. "Hm…" She watched as Rex's hands began to twitch, and then began to shake. "Careful, it appears as if you're treading on precarious territory. Stop what you're doing… do relax… and try to remember that if you do drop dead, even without an explosion, I'll still have to clean up the mess."

Rex blinked for the last time, his fingers curling into fists as he glanced up at the nurse, of which gazed back at him with that same consistent coldness. "I believe I have come to a further understanding regarding your current mental state."

"..."

"It appears that in an effort to keep you functioning, your mind has closed off not only this new exaggerated trauma, but also previous ones. Maybe that's all your mind really did, in the end: swept your previous trauma under the rug. Perhaps there's only your trauma stuck inside your head, and this third-party influence simply emphasized it into this new tumor… well, the point is that without anything to bring you sorrow, provided your body takes the burden of the stress while your mind struggles to keep your problems closed off from the rest of you… you won't have any of the side effects that came with this trauma."

"..."

"Maybe you should be considered a changed man; your mind has practically rewired itself in order to save you, changing you in the process. A curious development, one worth observing further, but for now I grow tired of your presence. Leave here knowing the following."

 _Do see a therapist. With their help, you should gradually recover after a speculative amount of time, but try to keep yourself happy… not that that'll be a difficult thing to do, now that you're like… well, like this. I mean, with your current mindset, you technically never experienced anything life-changing nor worthy of depression, provided you ignore everything going on inside you. A life without mental instability awaits, though if you do stray too close to the floodgates, then be careful lest they open and you suffer for it. Try to die somewhere where no one will have to clean you up, ok?_

Pressing a hand against the door to the cafeteria with the nurse's final words to Rex still resounding within his head, he felt strange. _So I'm able to keep myself positive, now that I'm like this? It's an actual possibility? Huh. Oddly enough, I can't bring myself to doubt this; that's a nice feeling, this lack of self-doubt._ Rex found himself smiling as he began to push the door. _Yes… even if I don't know how long this will last for… how long before this stack of cards comes tumbling down, I will enjoy it._ Rex pushed open the door to its fullest extent, a wide smile crossing his face, his eyes lit up as they reflected the lights bouncing off the walls, mirrors, and utensils.

"For now, I have been reborn anew." With that said, Rex took his first few steps into the cafeteria.

 **Ceder's P.O.V**

The rest of the class passed quickly, Minos and i retrieved our things and headed for the cafeteria. We got some food and took our seats. We ate in awkward silence until i saw Ageis enter looking a little less shaken. He got his food and came to us.

"Hi" he croaked out, a shaky grin on his face. "So… ham sandwich or turkey sandwich?" I ask trying to act as normally as possible."Or did you decide to skip lunch altogether" "turkey" he was lacking the detail that his speech had before. "Want to talk about what happened?" He opened his mouth, but just shook his head and began eating. I averted my gaze from Ageis and started eating again.

Then Rex walked into the cafeteria and started walking towards us. "What should we say to him?" "Whatever" Ageis seemed distant, understandably. I looked up and saw Rex approaching.

Brushing a hand against the table, Rex sighed and leaned forward with a glistening to his gaze, an indiscrete murmur slipping his lips. "Ah… it's a sad shame on my behalf, a deep regret that I must inform you that I saw you guys the moment I stepped in. I had as much time as I wanted, to think… to plan… but no. I'm so very sorry. I couldn't come up with a praiseworthy joke, nor an interesting conversation starter. Is life worth living without the fine quality of amusement? Perhaps not…"

"What are you on about?"

"...but alas!" With a sudden shift in tone and posture, Rex stood up and stepped onto the seat. "I assure you all, I will try again. Later, if not now! Inevitably, if not eventually! I'll propose the dumbest of humor, and I will receive laughter as compensation!" He slid down into his seat, arms lying outstretched on the table as Rex leaned forward, practically fusing with the bit of furniture, akin to that of a lax indifferent fellow. "Anything cool happen while I was away, or nah? It's nah, ain't it? _It is…"_

Aegis put his head down and his aura flared, when it calmed down, in Ageis's place was his doppelgänger. "Well, that is new".

 **Ageis's P.O.V**

I opened my eyes to a swirling blackness. I looked around and saw two massive circles through which I saw my team. "Well, this is new" I heard echo around, I cautiously stood up, feeling massive vertigo from standing on nothing. "Ageis? What happened?" I heard ceder say.

"It's Ageti, Ageis… isn't here right now" "well where did he go?" I felt a tapping on the side of my head and pressure on my knuckles. "Up here, he has to work some things out" suddenly I heard something, I _felt_ something. I turned around and saw a mangled collection of metal bars, resembling a broken cage. I then realized what he meant, I had to face my demons.

 **Well, this one didn't come easily. Hopefully the next chapter comes a bit sooner. Kudos for Rex's writer for pumping up the word count.**


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